18 July 2004	Sunday	29 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

LAHORE, July 17: Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif of the Lahore High Court has granted bail to Muhammad Karim and Munawar Khan, accused of robbing a bank in Sialkot of more than Rs50 million, with a direction to deposit bonds for Rs100,000 each.

Granting bail to the accused, the court observed that contents of the FIR made it a case of theft rather than robbery. No identification parade was ever held, hence the case required further inquiry, the court observed.

The counsel for the accused, Rana Farhat Ali, contended in his arguments that no recovery had been made from the petitioners and there was no incriminating evidence on record.

The two men are charged with breaking into 42 lockers of Muslim Commercial Bank's Railways Road branch in Sialkot and taking away gold, prize bonds and other valuables worth more than Rs50 million.

The Sialkot Kotwali police registered a case of robbery against the accused on the complaint of bank's chief manager on March 29.-PPI