KARACHI, Dec 9: An anti-terrorism court issued on Tuesday show-cause notice to a defence counsel in a kidnapping for ransom case for not appearing before the court.
Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the ATC-3 ordered Khalid Mumtaz, counsel for accused Mohammed Ali, to appear before the court on Wednesday and explain his position.
The judge had earlier fixed the hearing for recording the statement of Mohammed Ali. However, his statement could not be recorded as his counsel was absent.
Khalid Abbas and Mohammed Ali have been charged with the kidnapping of a 19-year-old boy on Sept 26 for ransom in the limits of the Sir Syed Town police station.
The judge had already recorded the statement of Khalid Abbas who denied charges against him.
Accused Mohammed Ali was scheduled to record his statement on oath. Three witnesses for his defence were also present in the court.
The accused, allegedly kidnapped Adnan and demanded Rs1 million for his release. The kidnappers used their victim’s cellular phone for negotiations with his family.
According to prosecution, the family told the kidnappers that they did not have that much amount of money and had only Rs30,000 at their house. The kidnappers asked them to bring Rs30,000 at a desolate place near Nagin Chowrangi.
The family reported the matter to the police and took the money to the kidnappers accordingly. As the accused were about to receive the money, the plain-clothes policemen tried to arrest them. However, only one of them, Khalid Abbas, could be arrested and accused Mohammed Ali fled the scene.
Later, the police recovered the hostage on a lead given by the arrested accused. They also arrested accused Mohammed Ali.
MURDER CASE: An anti-terrorism court put off the hearing of a sectarian murder case against two workers of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi after the statement of a prosecution witness.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5, who is conducting the trial inside the Juvenile Prison, fixed Dec 12 for the next hearing when the prosecution would examine further evidence in the case.
The prosecution witness, constable Arshad Shah, was also cross-examined by the defence counsel, M. R. Syed.
The LJ men — Mohammed Azam and Ataullah — have been charged with the murder of Mohammed Hamid Ali Rizvi on Sept 1, 2001, within the limits of the Clifton police.
