KARACHI: Order reserved in Rs298m post office fraud case
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Oct 15: An accountability court reserved on Saturday judgment in a Rs298 million fraud case against four officials of the Pakistan Post Office and a beneficiary. Judge Ms Qaiser Iqbal of the AC-1, who is also administrative judge of all ACs in Karachi, fixed Oct 29 for pronouncement of the verdict after hearing final arguments from special public prosecutor Syed Nadeem Hussain Shah, who was assisted by special public prosecutor Naeem Tanoli.
Ehsan Baseer Ahmed Shaikh, former Post-Master General, Sindh, and three post masters – Shakeel Ahmed, Izhar Ahmed Jafferi and Arshad Ali, and Rohail Ahmed Siddiqui, brother of former post-master Izhar Hussain Siddiqui, have been prosecuted.
Two accused, former post-master Izhar Hussain Siddiqui and Mohammed Hussain, died during the trial. Accused Baseer Ahmed Shaikh is on bail, while rest of the accused are in custody.
The accused were charged with misappropriation of funds in the City Courts Post Office.
The prosecution examined in all 27 prosecution witnesses.
ORDER RESERVED: An anti-terrorism court reserved judgment in the kidnapping and murder case of a young man against four accused after hearing final arguments from the defence and prosecution attorneys.
Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the ATC-3 fixed Oct 20 for delivering the verdict after he heard arguments from defence counsel, Khawaja Naveed, S. M. Iqbal and Syed Mohammed Shah, and special public prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa.
The 30-year-old victim, father of an infant girl, was kidnapped on Oct 10, 2004, when he was on his way on his motorcycle in North Nazimabad. His bullet-riddled body was found at a desolate place near Sohrab Goth on Oct 12 after the victim’s family failed to pay the ransom amount.
Accused Imran, Fayyaz, Rehan and Jabbar have been prosecuted for kidnapping and murdering Mohammed Ali in October last.
According to prosecution, accused Fayyaz was arrested along with some other suspects on Oct 19, 2004, in North Nazimabad by a team of anti-violent crime cell (AVCC), which had gone to arrest some other suspects. A Kalashnikov rifle and other weapons were recovered from the suspects.
Later, during the interrogation, Fayyaz revealed to have kidnapped and murdered Mohammed Ali along with his accomplices. The police on his lead arrested the other accused and also recovered the victim’s bike.
The prosecution examined in all 13 prosecution witnesses, who included six eye-witnesses. Two brothers, a sister, a sister-in-law and the wife of the victim appeared as eye-witnesses and they recognised the four accused with their specific roles in the case.
EXTORTION CASE: Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5 put off the hearing of an extortion case against six alleged associates of Arshad Puppu after recording the statement of a prosecution witness.
Accused Riaz son of Sahib, Asghar Niazi son of Qasim, Arshad son of Ashraf, Shahnawaz son of Luqman, Javed son of Abdur Rehman and Nadim son of Shakoor, have been charged with extortion.
The judge fixed Monday for the next hearing after recording the deposition by SI Sanaullah, who along with other police officials had arrested the accused.
Defence counsel Janan Khan Khattak also cross-examined the prosecution witness. Special public prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum appeared on behalf of the state.
According to the prosecution, the accused demanded Rs1 million from complainant Shaikh Fazal Ellahi, owner of the Japan Plastic Factory, situated on Suparco Road in Mauripur police limits.
It was alleged that the accused came to the factory on June 28 and gave the watchman a slip inscribed with the demand of Rs400,000. The factory owner reported the matter to the police accordingly.
According to prosecution, On July 7, the six alleged associates of the gangland leader came to the factory around 5pm to receive the money. The police, who had already covertly positioned themselves around the factory, arrested accused Riyaz, Arshad, Asghar Niazi and Shahnawaz, while accused Javed and Nadim managed to flee the scene. However, the two absconding accused were arrested later on July 12 on the lead given by their arrested accomplices.
