09 January 2004	Friday	16 Ziqa'ad 1424

KARACHI, Jan 8: The additional district and session judge, East, Abdul Malik, sentenced on Thursday a worker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement to life term for his involvement in a bomb blast at a newspaper offices.

Uzair Qureshi was prosecuted for carrying out a blast that killed three people at the offices of Nawa-i-Waqt, situated opposite Mazar-i-Quaid, in 2000.

The dead included an unknown woman, who was believed to have been carrying the bomb with her. The other two victims, Najam Zaidi and Ziaul Haq, were newspaper employees.

MURDER CASE: An anti-terrorism court put off on Tuesday hearing of a sectarian murder case against two workers of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi after statement by the accused.

Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5, who is conducting the trial inside the Juvenile Prison, fixed Friday for hearing the final arguments from the prosecution and the defence.

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.

While recording their statements, the two accused denied their involvement in the case. They also disputed the time and place of their arrest as claimed by the police.

Accused Azam said he was a tailor by profession and Ata said he was a juice vendor. They both said that they were picked up on June 13 from their respective houses.

The two accused are being represented by M. R. Syed, while special public prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum is appearing on behalf of the state.

SIDE CLOSED: The prosecution in a kidnapping-cum-murder case closed its side after the defence counsel completed the cross-examination of the last of the prosecution witnesses.

Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the ATC-3 fixed Friday for the statements of the accused after counsel Wasir Hussain Khoso cross- examined the investigation officer, SI Mohammed Babar, who appeared as the last prosecution witness.

Waqar Shamsi, student of class nine, and his teenaged friend, Mohammed Arshad, are being tried for kidnapping and killing a classmate of accused Shamsi.

According to prosecution, Waqar Shamsi and his two alleged accomplices kidnapped Hafiz Mohammed Umer for ransom and strangled their victim on Sept 16 last year.

Accused Shamsi allegedly called his classmate to his house and then took him to the house of his friends - Mohammed Arshad and Imran Masih alias Raja - in Akhtar Colony. They allegedly injected a mouse-killing drug to their victim and affixed tape on his mouth as he started crying for help. Later, the accused allegedly strangled the captive with an electric wire.

The accused allegedly phoned the victim's family and demanded Rs3 million as ransom for the release of Hafiz Umer. They asked the family to deliver the money at the Mehmoodabad graveyard or they would kill the hostage.

Accused Shamsi was picked up from his house after the victim's family cast doubts on him. The teenaged accused confessed to have kidnapped and killed the victim and the police recovered the body next day on the lead given by him. The ATC-3 was assigned the trial of the juvenile accused by the home department under a notification.