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KARACHI, Sept 14: An anti-terrorism court in Karachi on Tuesday recorded the statement of first prosecution witness in a case against Waheed brothers.
Judge Feroze Mehmood Bhatti of the ATC-2, who is conducting trial inside the Central Prison, put off hearing till Sept 22 after statement by Dr Rehana of the Bismillah Taqi Blood Diseases Centre.
Dr Akmal Waheed, a cardiologist, and his younger brother Dr. Arshad Waheed, a kidney surgeon, are facing a series of charges, including medical treatment to Al Qaeda activists and other terrorists, and for sending people to Wana for terrorist training.
They have been charged with financing, harbouring and treating the activists of the Jundullah. The police announced the arrest of Waheed brothers on July 2, though the family claimed that they had been picked up on June 17.
According to police, some Jundullah activists, arrested for their involvement in an attack on the corps commander's convoy and other terrorist activities, stated that the doctor brothers had close links with them.
The two doctors were given in police custody for interrogation in the corps commander's convoy attack case and Rangers killing case till July 14. However, later they were exonerated from the charges in the two cases and the police booked them in a fresh case on July 15.
The fresh case was registered by the Gulshan-i-Iqbal police under Sections 201, 211 and 216 of the Pakistan Penal Code and Sections 21-C, 21-J and 11-M of the Anti-terrorism Act for financing, assisting, harbouring and treating activists of the banned Jundullah.
According to prosecution, the two doctors sent two activists of Jundullah, Shahzad Ahmed Bajwah and Mohammed Qasim, to Wana for terrorist training. They also allegedly used to give shelter to Jundullah and Al-Qaeda activists, who included Abu Massab, Gul Hasan and Hassam Al-Saim.
The doctor brothers were also charged with providing medical treatment Shahzad Ahmed Bajwah and other Jundullah activists, who were injured during an attack on a rangers mobile under the Baloch Colony bridge.
Prosecution witness Dr Rehana stated that she was working at the Bismillah Taqi Blood Diseases Centre and he senior, Dr Saqib had referred a patient with a head injury to her for treatment.
She said that the patient told his name Abdullah and he had a superficial head injury. She said that later police showed him the picture of that patient and told her that his name was Shahzad Ahmed Bajwah.
During the cross-examination by defence counsel Ilyas Khan, the woman doctor stated that she treated the patient under the code of medical conduct. According to prosecution, a terrorist, Ataur Rehman, contacted Dr Akmal Waheed on mobile phone for treatment of injured Bajwah.
The doctor allegedly asked the caller to bring the patient to Bismillah Centre where he was treated by Dr Saqib and Dr Rehana. The ATC also issued notice to special public prosecutor for Sept 22 on a bail application submitted by the doctor brothers.
JUDGMENT RESERVED: An anti-terrorism court reserved the judgment in the murder case of a sub-inspector against an accused. Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the ATC-5 fixed Sept 16 for the pronouncement of judgement after hearing final arguments from special public prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa and defence counsel Zulfiqar ali Kehar.
The case against accused Qurban Ali Magsi pertained to the killing of sub-inspector Zahid Hussain Abidi during a shootout with a police party in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on June 17, 2000.
According to prosecution, accused Qurban Ali Magsi and co- accused Amanullah Magsi alias Shahbaz were spotted near National Apartments while they were going in a snatched Toyota Corolla.
The accused allegedly opened fire when the police party tried to intercept them fatally wounding the sub-inspector. Accused Amanullah Magsi also sustained a bullet wound in his chest and he was arrested on the spot with an unlicensed pistol.
Accused Qurban, however, managed to flee the scene. The same court had earlier on Sept 28, 2000, sentenced co-accused, Amanullah Magsi, to death for the murder of the police official.
COP'S MURDER CASE: Two prosecution witnesses identified an accused in the murder case of a constable in an anti-terrorism court. Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5, who had earlier sentenced two other accused to death in the same case, put off the hearing till Friday after the deposition of Head Constable Anwar ul Haq, who was also the complainant.
Syed Amir Hussain alias Fauji, who was arrested on November 8, 2003, is being tried for killing Mehboob Ali and injuring two other policemen on Jan 13, 2003, in the compound of the Saudabad police station.
According to prosecution, five suspects were spotted by a Saudabad police party in a stolen car (AAB-588). The police party intercepted them and brought the suspects and their car to the police station.
It was alleged that the accused, in the meantime, hurled a cracker and snatched a sub-machine gun from a constable and opened fire as smoke and dust engulfed the scene after the explosion. PC Mehboob died instantly and two other policemen were injured by the accused.
Zafar Iqbal, an outdoor waiter of a tea stall, and Mohammed Umer, a rickshaw driver, appeared as prosecution witnesses and they both identify the accused. The outdoor waiter said he was returning to the tea stall from the office of the DSP in the compound of the Saudabad police station when the incident took place.
The rickshaw driver stated that he had just dropped a passenger near the police station when he saw accused Amir, armed with a pistol, fleeing the scene. Defence counsel Fahim Zia also cross-examined the prosecution witness.
Special public prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum is representing the state. The Orangi Town police had earlier arrested two accused - Kashif and Zahir - on April 3, 2003. They were tried by the ATC- 5 and were sentenced to death.
