KARACHI: ATC puts off hearing in convoy attack case
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Nov 16: An anti-terrorism court put off on Wednesday the hearing of the corps commander case against 11 workers of the banned Jundullah group after recording the statement of a prosecution witness.
Judge Feroze Mehmood Bhatti of the ATC-2 fixed Nov 22 for the next hearing after the deposition of Ghulam Abbas, a rent-a-car dealer, who was also cross-examined by defence counsel M. R. Syed and Mushtaq Ahmed.
Ataur Rehman alias Ibrahim, Shahzad Ahmed Bajwah, Yaqoob Saeed, Uzair Ahmed, Shoiab Siddiqui, Danish Inam, Najeebullah, Khurrum Saifullah, Shahzad Mukhtar, Khalid Rao and Adnan Shah alias Tipu have been charged with a series of offences, including attack on the motorcade of Lt-Gen Ahsan Saleem Hayat on June 10 last year on the old Clifton bridge which resulted in the death of six army personnel, three policemen and a passer-by.
Mohammed Qasim, Maaz, Shahab, Bilal, Tayyeb, Hammad and Fasih have been declared absconders.
Identifying accused Najeebullah in the court, the prosecution witness stated that he along with one Aslam had come to his office on June 9, 2004 to book a Hiace for picnic at Kalri lake on June 10.
He said the accused asked him to send the Hiace at a house in Federal B. Area. He said driver Ghulam Rasool took the vehicle in the morning.
According to prosecution, the accused sedated the driver of the wagon and later used it for attacking the convoy of the corps commander.
The prosecution, represented by Iqtidar Ali Hashmi and Maula Bux Bhatti, has so far examined 30 prosecution witnesses.
DIG ATTACK CASE: Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5 put off the hearing of the DIG attack case after recording the statement of the accused.
The judge fixed Nov 22 for the next hearing when he would hear final arguments from defence and prosecution attorneys.
DIG investigation Manzoor Mughul escaped unhurt from a life attempt allegedly committed by the accused who came to the DIG’s office to submit his application regarding expedite investigation in his case.
Denying the charges, accused Mohammed Bashir stated that he had deposited his licensed pistol at the counter before entering the office of the DIG. He stated that he was implicated in the case by the police.
EXTORTION CASE: An anti-terrorism court put off the hearing of an extortion case against two alleged associates of underworld don Arshad Pappu after recording the statement of a prosecution witness.
Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the ATC-3 fixed Nov 19 for the next hearing after the statement of Judicial Magistrate Irshad Hussain.
The magistrate, who was also cross-examined by the defence counsel, submitted that he had recorded the statement of the prosecution witnesses under Section 164 of the CrPC, He also produced the statement of the witnesses in the court.
According to prosecution, the two accused phoned Mohammed Nadim, a hardware shopkeeper at Shershah, and demanded Rs50,000 as protection money on behalf of gang leader Arshad Pappu.
