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KARACHI, Sept 20: The prosecution on Saturday prayed an anti-terrorism court to award capital punishment to the chief of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and three others in a sectarian murder case.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5, who conducted the trial inside the Juvenile Prison, fixed Sept 24 for pronouncement of judgment after the prosecution and defence concluded their final arguments.
The LJ chief, Akram Lahori, and his three associates, Mohammed Azam, Ataullah and Malik Tassaduq, were charged with the killing of a security guard, Mohammed Nazeer, at Mehfil-i-Zainub Imambargah in Rizvia Society on April 7, 2002.
According to the prosecution, four accused came to the Imambargah on two motorcycles. Accused Ataullah opened fired on the security guard, killing him instantly.
Special public prosecutor, Mazhar Qayyum, examined, in all, 13 prosecution witnesses, who included two eye-witnesses.
The eye-witnesses, who were also going to the Imambargah to seek some religious guidelines from the Imam, identified the accused. who were represented by M. R. Syed and Sarfraz Tanoli.
GHOUS: An Accountability Court reserved order on the acquittal application filed by Syed Ghous Ali Shah, a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and former defence minister, in a corruption reference.
Judge Qaiser Iqbal of the AC-1, who is also the administrative judge of all ACs in Karachi division, fixed Oct 1 for the pronouncement of order after hearing arguments of the special public prosecutor and the defence counsel.
Syed Ghaus Ali Shah, presently abroad on medical grounds, was charged with appointing 122 people in the CAA, in violation of rules and regulations during 1992 and 1993 when he was the defence minister.
Mr Shah’s counsel, Fahim Riyaz Siddiqui, moved the application for his acquittal under Section 265-K of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The PML (N) leader, who had also served as judge of the Sindh High Court, was initially arrested in the famous Oct 12 plane hijacking case soon after the dismissal of the Nawaz government last year. He was, however, acquitted in the hijacking case by the trial court.
ACQUITTED: The Judicial Magistrate, East, Latif Abbasi, acquitted a worker of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement in a case pertaining to possessing an unlicensed pistol.
Ghulam Mustafa, a unit in charge, was booked and arrested by the Khokhrapar police in 2001.
The JM exonerated the Haqiqi worker from the charge for want of incriminating evidence.
