KARACHI, Feb 24: An anti-terrorism court adjourned on Friday the hearing of a kidnapping for ransom case against three accused after recording the statement of a prosecution witness.
Judge Syed Saghir Hussain Zaidi of the ATC-3 fixed Saturday for the next hearing after special public prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa examined the judicial magistrate, South, Rajesh Chander
Akram alias Shaheen, Gul Hasan Brohi, Abdul Jalil are being prosecuted for kidnapping Zakir Rehman, a grain dealer, and his two young sons for ransom, who were released after the payment of Rs3.4 million.
The magistrate submitted that he had recorded the confessional statements of accused Akram and Brohi. He said the two accused had volunteered their confessions. He said he had also conducted the identification parade of the accused, who were duly identified with their specific roles in the incident by five prosecution witnesses.
According to prosecution, the trader was going home on his bike on Oct 15, 2005 when eight occupants of a Suzuki pick-up intercepted him in Chakiwara and took him away at gunpoint. The kidnappers demanded Rs4 million for his release.
It was alleged that on Oct 25 victim’s wife, Zakia, his two sons, Abdullah, 13, and Haseebur Rehman, and his elder brother, Habibur Rehman, met the kidnappers at an appointed place in Chakiwara where the three accused received Rs500,000 as part payment of ransom.
The kidnappers, however, made the victim’s sons hostage before they released the trader. The accused asked the trader to pay the remaining Rs3.5 million for the release of his kids.
According to prosecution, after 10 days the trader went to meet the kidnappers and got the kids released after paying them further Rs2.9 million. He finally reported the matter to the police after the kidnappers kept on demanding the 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 charges against him under Section 169 of the CrPC.
The police submitted chargesheet 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 Oct 15, 2004, when the incident occurred.
RANSOM CASE: An anti-terrorism court adjourned the hearing of a kidnapping for ransom case after recording the deposition of the investigation officer, Sub-inspector Chaudhry Manzoor.
Judge Ghulam Ali Samito of the ATC-1 fixed March 4 for the next hearing when defence counsel Chaudry Iftikhar would cross-examine the investigation officer.
Accused Zafar Iqbal is being tried for kidnapping a nine-year-old boy, Arshad Raza son of Mohammad Raza, on Jan 1 in PIB Colony.
According to prosecution, represented by special public prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa, the accused, along with his two absconding accomplices, kidnapped the boy at 2:30pm. Later, he called the victim’s father, an ice dealer, and demanded Rs7 million as ransom.
However, the kidnappers allegedly agreed to Rs4 million ransom after a series of negotiations with the victim’s father. It was alleged that on Jan 17 the ice dealer paid Rs300,000 to the kidnappers near Punjab Colony.
While the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee was trying to track down the kidnappers through their phone calls, the police on Jan 20 received a tip-off regarding the presence of kidnappers and the victim at a house in Gulshan-i-Iqbal.
The police accordingly raided the house and arrested accused Zafar following a shootout. The abducted child was also recovered.
