KARACHI, March 16: An anti-terrorism court declared on Thursday a grandson of Nawab Akbar Bugti as proclaimed offender in the PIDC House bomb blast case. Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-3 also ordered attachment of entire moveable and immoveable property of Barhamdakh, the grandson of the Baloch leader, who with Abdul Hameed Bugti was shown absconding accused in the case.
The judge, who is conducting the trial inside the Central Prison, fixed March 29 for indictment of two Aziz Khan and Mangla Khan arrested on Nov 16 in Gulshan-i-Iqbal.
Three people were killed and 21 others injured when a powerful car bomb exploded in front of the PIDC House on Nov 15, 2005. The bomb went off at 8:40am causing extensive damage to a fast-food outlet, bank branches on the ground floor and offices on upper floors.
At least seven vehicles were destroyed and eight others were damaged. The windows of adjoining buildings, including a five-star hotel and Dawood Centre, were shattered.
The KFC outlet and the adjacent Muslim Commercial Bank branch were destroyed while branches of three other banks were damaged. Most of the floors of the PIDC House are occupied by the Pakistan Petroleum Limited.
Two security guards, Sabz Ali and Iftikhar Ahmad, on duty at the MCB branch, were killed on the spot. An injured, Jawed Iqbal, died at the hospital.
The bomb contained improvised explosives and the blast caused a crater on the ground one-and-a-half feet deep and four-foot in diameters. The car in which the bomb was planted was stolen on Sept 28, 2005, in Khairpur.
Special public prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum represented the state.
MURDER CASE: An anti-terrorism court recorded the statement of a prosecution witness in the kidnapping and murder case of an 18-year-old man.
Mehboob Ali, a cloth merchant, was kidnapped for ransom allegedly by his relatives who slaughtered him even after receiving money for his release from his family.
The victim was running a cloth shop with his paternal uncle in Lea Market. On Aug 23, 2005, his second cousin, Uzma, called him on his mobile around 6pm when he was sitting at a nearby shop of his friend, Asif. The cousin asked him to come to her home in Garden East.
Jahanzeb, husband of Uzma, his elder brother Aurangzeb and one of their relatives, Mohammed Arif, made Mehboob hostage when he reached Uzma’s house.
The kidnappers contacted the victim’s family through his cellular phone and demanded Rs4 million for his release.
However, later the kidnappers agreed to accept ransom of Rs500,000 after a series of negotiations with the victim’s family. On Aug 25, the kidnappers phoned victim’s paternal uncle Asghar Ali around 4:30am and asked him to bring the money at a secluded place near Lyari Expressway.
Asghar Ali stated before the court that he along with victim’s elder brother Mohammed Akram took Rs485,000 with them and accordingly went to the appointed place where the kidnappers along with the victim came in a car.
Asghar stated that he recognised the kidnappers and told them they did not need to kidnap Mehboob if they wanted money.
The prosecution witness said the kidnappers, however, took the money and took away the victim with them telling them that they would release Mehboob a little distance ahead.
He said while he and victim’s brother were still waiting for Mehboob at the desolate place, the kidnapper again phoned him and told him that they would soon find the body of Mehboob as they gave Rs15,000 short.
Later, the accused allegedly took Mehboob to an under-construction bungalow in Garden East where they slaughtered the trussed up victim. Sensing some suspicious activity, a resident of the vicinity called police emergency number 15.
Subsequently, the Soldier Bazaar police reached the spot around 7:15am and they shifted the body to hospital where the victim remained unknown. A murder case was registered against unknown culprits.
Asghar Ali submitted that the family came to know about the killing of the young man after they saw news and picture of the body in a newspaper. Later, they told the police about the kidnapping episode.
The Soldier police arrested Aurangzeb on Sept 29 in Baghdadi on a tip-off. Uzma, Jahanzeb and Mohammed Arif have been declared absconders as they are still untraceable.
Special public prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa represented the state.
Judge Syed Saghir Hussain Zaidi fixed Friday 9 for the next hearing after recording the statement of Asghar Ali, who was also cross-examined by defence counsel Rahim Khan Bangush.
SENTENCED: The additional district and sessions judge, Imdad Hussain Khoso, sentenced a woman to life in jail for killing her husband.
Salheena, a Bengali-speaking woman, was found guilty of having stabbed her husband Mustafa to death on May 24, 2003, in Sharifabad police limits.
