KARACHI, Nov 24: An eye-witness identified on Thursday three workers of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi in the prisoners’ van firing case before an anti-terrorism court.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5 put off the hearing till Friday after the deposition of Constable Mohammed Nawaz, the complainant, who was also cross-examined by defence counsel Amir Mansoob Qureshi, M.A. Warsi and Ashraf Mughul.
Five workers of the banned sectarian outfit have been charged with killing a constable and an under trial prisoner during an attack on a prisoners’ van.
Mohammed Faisal alias Faisal Pehalwan, Waseem Sabir, Mazhar Hussain, Mohammed Tassaduq and Muzammil Hussain were charged with attacking the prisoners’ van on Feb 28, 2002 near Bohra Pir in the Nabi Bukhsh police limits.
According to the prosecution, represented by special public prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum, the LJ men opened fire on the van which was carrying some under trial sectarian workers to the Central Prison after producing them in the city courts. Police constable Mohammed Shakil and an under trial prisoner, Saqib son of Meher Din, were killed in the attack. A dozen other UTPs were also injured in the incident.
Complainant Mohammed Nawaz submitted that he was sitting along with PC Shakil in the rear portion of the prisoners’ van. Identifying accused Faisal Pehalwan, Sabir Waseem and Mazhar, the prosecution witness said that they got down from a yellow cab near Bohra Pir and opened fire on the van.
RANSOM CASE: Judge Aley Maqbool Rizvi of the ATC-1 put off the hearing of a kidnapping for ransom case after recording the depositions of the victim and the complainant.
The judge fixed Nov 29 after the statements of Dr Om Prakash, who was kidnapped for ransom on June 26, last year, and his nephew Ajay Kumar, the complainant.
The two prosecution witnesses also identified accused Ather Nadim, the only accused in custody. Five of his accomplices have been shown absconders.
The victim and his nephew stated that three accused took away Dr Prakash with them in a car. They kept the victim hostage for 12 days in a house in Gulistan-i-Jauhar and kept on demanding Rs10 million for his release.
