KARACHI, Aug 1: One of the co-accused in the Justice Nizam murder case resiled on Friday the confessional statement he had made before a judicial magistrate.

Co-accused Jawaid Akhtar Pirzada, represented by Hanif Kashmiri, submitted a written statement before the district and sessions judge, Central, Zafar Ahmed Khan Sherwani, who was assigned to hold the trial inside the Central Prison under a Sindh government notification.

Justice Nizam Ahmed of Sindh High Court and his son Nadim Ahmed, a lawyer, were shot dead in an attack on June 10, 1996, near their home in PECHS. The Ferozabad police had registered a case initially against unknown assailants on the the complaint of Group Captain (Retd) Sikandar, brother-in-law of Justice Nizam Ahmed.

According to the prosecution, Justice Nizam and his son were killed on a dispute over a plot adjacent to the Awami Markaz. The judge had opposed commercialization and allotment of the plot, which was stated to be purchased by Javed Akhtar Pirzada as a front man of Mr Zardari.

Mr Pirzada, who was stated to have become approver in the case, had earlier recorded his confessional statement, involving Asif Ali Zardari.

According to the defence counsel, the co-accused retracted the confessional statement, which, according to him, was bogus. He submitted in his statement that the police had tortured him to make confessional statement. Mr Pirzada stated that the police had taken him to the magistrate for recording his confession. However, he said, the magistrate did not record his statement after he told him about the police torture.

Besides Asif Ali Zardari and Jawaid Akhter Pirzada, PPP activists Bilal Shaikh and Babar Sandhu have been charge-sheeted by the police in the case.

The judge put off the hearing of the case till Sept 5 on the application of accused Bilal Shaikh.

The accused submitted before the court that his counsel was not in Karachi as he had gone to attend the funeral of one of his relatives.