0
KARACHI, Sept 29: An anti-terrorism court reserved judgment on Wednesday in a case pertaining to a series of firecracker explosions in and around the compound of Preedy Police Station in 1998.
Naeem Roofi, arrested on April 6, has been prosecuted for hurling as many as six fire cracker on the police station on March 31, 1998. His affiliation or the motive behind the explosions, however, was not brought on record by the prosecution.
Judge Feroze Mehmood Bhatti of the ATC-2, who conducted the trial inside the Central Prison, fixed Oct 4 for the pronouncement of verdict after hearing final arguments from the prosecution and defence attorneys.
According to prosecution, the accused first hurled three crackers on the rear wall of the police station. He then lobbed three crackers in the compound from the front side, which injured four people, including three policemen.
It was alleged that the driver of a yellow cab (PG-8132), Irshad Hussain, was washing the vehicle, belonging to sub- inspector Mohammad Siddique, when a firecracker fell on the cab's roof. Both the driver and owner of the taxi and two other policemen sustained injuries in explosion.
The prosecution examined in all eight prosecution witnesses, including the injured cab driver, who also deposed to have seen the accused fleeing the scene after lobbing the crackers.
He submitted that he was in the compound of the police station and he heard three explosions with the interval of two minutes each. He said he saw the accused fleeing the scene.
Earlier, the judge recorded the statement of the accused, who denied the charges. The accused stated that he was a clerk in the DHA and was implicated in the case by the police.
SIDE CLOSED: An anti-terrorism court adjourned the hearing of a murder case against a worker of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi after recording the deposition of last four prosecution witnesses.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5 fixed Saturday for recording statement of accused Kamran alias Asif alias Uncle alias Mehmood, who carried Rs3 million reward on his arrest.
The LJ man was charged with killing a passer by woman and attempting to kill policemen during a shootout with police party on May 19 in Sector 15-A of the Buffer Zone under Sections 302, 353 and 324 of the Pakistan Penal Code. He was also charged with the possession of arms and ammunition and explosive materials.
According to prosecution, Inspector Usman Asghar, along with a police party, raided a house in Al-Mubashir Building after receiving information about presence of LJ activists.
Accused Kamran along with an absconding accomplice, Junaid, opened fire on the police to avoid their arrest. The two accused ran away in different directions and Kamran, who took position behind a pile of cement blocks, was surrounded by the raiding party.
The accused fired upon the chasing party and killed Sarwar Bibi, a domestic servant, in the shootout. However, he was also hit by two bullets in his lower torso and was arrested while his accomplice managed to escape.
