January 28, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 27, 1426

KARACHI, Jan 27: An anti-terrorism court adjourned on Friday the hearing of the corps commander’s convoy attack case against 11 workers of the banned Jundullah group after recording statements of the accused.

Judge Feroze Mehmood Bhatti of the ATC-2 fixed Feb 6 for the hearing of the final arguments from the defence and prosecution attorneys after the accused denied the charges.

Attaur Rehman alias Ibrahim, Shahzad Ahmed Bajwah, Yaqoob Saeed, Uzair Ahmed, Shoaib Siddiqui, Danish Inam, Najeebullah, Khurrum Saifullah, Shahzad Mukhtar and Khalid Rao were formally indicted on Sept 23, 2004 for a series of offences, including attack on the motorcade of the then corps commander, Lt-Gen Ahsan Saleem Hayat, on June 10, 2004 on the old Clifton bridge, which resulted in the death of six army personnel, three policemen and a passer-by.

The Jundullah men were charged with the offences under Sections 302, 324, 404 and 34 of PPC, Section 7 of the Anti-terrorism Act-1997, and Section 3, 4 and 5 of the Explosives Act. Adnan Shah alias Tipu, Mohammed Qasim, Maaz, Shahab, Bilal, Tayyeb, Hammad and Fasih have been declared absconders.

Denying all charges against them, the Jundullah men also disputed the prosecution’s claims regarding their time and place of arrest. They said they were arrested on June 11, 2004 from their houses, while the prosecution alleged that the accused were arrested on June 13.

The prosecution examined in all 32 out of total 60 prosecution witnesses cited in the charge-sheet. The prosecution witnesses also included eye-witnesses to the attack on the convoy and arrest of some of the Jundullah men.

RANSOM CASE: An anti-terrorism court put off the hearing of a kidnapping for ransom case against three accused after recording statement of a prosecution witness.

Judge Syed Saghir Hussain Zaidi of the ATC-3 fixed Jan 27 for the next hearing after special public prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa examined victim’s brother as a prosecution witness, who identified the three accused.

Akram alias Shaheen, Gul Hasan Brohi and Abdul Jalil are being prosecuted for kidnapping Zakir Rehman, a grain dealer, and his two young sons for ransom, who were released on payment of Rs3.4 million.

According to the prosecution, the trader was going home on his bike on October 15, 2004 when eight occupants of a Suzuki pick-up intercepted him in Chakiwara and took him away at gunpoint.

The victim’s brother, Habibur Rehman, stated that the kidnappers demanded Rs4 million for the release of his brother.

He said on Oct 25 he along with the victim’s wife, Zakia, and her two sons, Abdullah, 13, and Haseebur Rehman, 9, met the kidnappers at a designated place in Chakiwara where the three accused received Rs500,000 as part payment of ransom.

He stated that the kidnappers, however, made the victim’s sons hostage before they released his brother. He said the accused asked his brother to pay the remaining Rs3.5 million for the release of the kids.

He said after 10 days he, along with other family members, again went to meet the kidnappers and got the kids released after paying them further Rs2.9 million. He said his brother finally reported the matter to the police after the kidnappers kept on demanding remaining Rs600,000 from him and threatened him of dire consequences in case of non-payment.

The police initially arrested five accused – Akram alias Shaheen, Gul Hasan Brohi, Abdul Jalil, Abdus Salam and Nadir. However, later the ATC-3 ordered the release of accused Nadir after the police withdrew the charges against him under Section 169 of the Cr.PC.

The police submitted charge-sheet against four accused and showed eight others as absconding accused. The absconders were: Razzaq Commando, Serwer, Shahid, Faiz, Abdul Hameed, Mohammed Rashid, Mohammad Ayub and Khuda Bux.

Later, the ATC-3 acquitted accused Abdus Salam on an application under Section 265-K. The accused submitted before the court that he was already in the judicial custody and was lodged at the District Malir jail on October 15, 2004 when the incident occurred.

SENT TO JAIL: Administrative judge of Anti-Terrorism Courts in Karachi on Friday sent two accused, facing charges of killing policeman, to jail and directed the investigation officer to complete investigation and submit charge-sheet on Feb 3.