KARACHI, Oct 25: An anti-terrorism court sentenced on Saturday two men to life for kidnapping a boy for ransom.
Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the Anti-terrorism Court No. 3, however, acquitted a co-accused for want of incriminating evidence against him.
The three accused — Ghulam Hussain Soomro, Mohammed Akbar and Imran Yousuf — were prosecuted for kidnapping Abdul Samad, 17, on Aug 24 in Garden West. The accused demanded Rs3 million for the release of the victim.
Accused Soomro and Akbar were found guilty. The judge also ordered confiscation of their movable properties, worth Rs100,000 each.
According to prosecution, four men came to the residence of Mohammed Hanif, a prize-bond dealer, and asked his elder son to take a file from their car for his father. The two sons of the dealer accompanied them to the car and they forcibly took away Samad.
The younger brother, a student of class seven, was able to remember the registration number of the kidnappers’ car, which belonged to a rent-a-car agency.
The kidnappers demanded Rs3 million as ransom for the release of Abdus Samad, a matriculation student.
The police arrested Ghulam Hussain Soomro, who had rented the car (H-7296). The accused led to the arrest of his two accomplices and recovery of the hostage on Aug 28.
Three accused, Arshad alias Pappu son of Haji Lalu, Rustam alias Haider and Ilyas, have been declared absconders.
The victim stated that the accused said the kidnappers had tied his hands and feet and kept him blind-folded during captivity.
Special public prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa examined 11 prosecution witnesses.
REMANDED: Sadruddin Ghanchi, a business tycoon arrested on Wednesday, was remanded on Thursday to the judicial custody after the FIA completed investigation in a loan default case.
The FIA, which had arrested the businessman near the Sindh High Court on Sept 17, produced him in the special court for banking offences, headed by Judge Syed Hasan shah Bukhari, who sent him to jail till Nov 8.
The case against Sadruddin Ghanchi pertained to default on payment of Rs40 million loan, secured from the NDFC in the name of West Pakistan Tank Terminal in 1997. His son, Hashim Ghanchi, was also wanted in the case.
The judge ordered the FIA to submit the final charge-sheet in the case on the next date of hearing.
Meanwhile, the judge also issued notice to the prosecution on the bail application of the accused, filed by his counsel M. Ilyas Khan. The judge will hear the application on Oct 10.
PROCLAIMED OFFENDERS: The federal anti-corruption court, headed by Judge Muneer Ahmed Khawaja, declared three officials of Jubilee Insurance Company proclaimed offenders in a forgery case.
Zeeshan Khaliq, Rehan Karim and Agha Imran Khan were booked in 2002 by the FIA on the complaint of Dr Nazeer Ashraf Leghari, who alleged that the accused had fraudulently sold his mother’s car.
The judge also ordered the attachment of the absconding accused’s properties.
