KARACHI, July 12: An anti-terrorism court acquitted on Wednesday an accused in the case pertaining to a conspiracy to kill President Parvez Musharraf.

Judge Ghulam Ali Samtio of the ATC-1 exonerated Naveedul Hassan from all charges as the prosecution failed to prove its case.

The defendant, who was earlier declared an absconder, was prosecuted (under Section 120-B and Section 7 of the Anti-terrorist Act) for hatching a conspiracy to blow up the president’s motorcade in April 2003 in the limits of the Airport police.

Defence counsel Samiullah contended that his client’s name was Naveedul Hassan, while the accused in the FIR was named Naveed. He argued that it was a case of mistaken identity as his client was the namesake of the accused.

According to the prosecution, Naveedul Hassan was a worker of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Aalmi, which wanted to kill President Musharraf for his anti-Taliban and pro-American policies. However, the prosecution failed to prove the affiliation of the defendant with the proscribed organisation.

Earlier, the same court, then headed by Judge Aley Maqbool Rizvi, had sentenced Aalmi chief Mohammed Imran, his deputy Mohammed Hanif, finance secretary Mohammed Ashraf, and workers Waseem Akhtar and Sharib, in the instant case.

It was alleged that a Suzuki pick-up, loaded with explosives, was parked near a shop at Falaknaz Arcade on Sharea Faisal and the absconding accused Kamran had the remote control to blow up the explosives at the time of the arrival of the president’s motorcade.

Kamran, who had positioned himself at a petrol pump near the Star Gate on Sharea Faisal, allegedly pushed the remote control button several times but the vehicle did not blow up.

It was alleged that Naveed had assembled the explosive device and its remote control.

Later, the accused used the same explosive-laden vehicle in the US consulate bombing.

It was alleged that Habibullah Khattak, who was given Rs400,000 by the Aalmi leaders, brought explosives and other weapons in a truck from the upcountry.

Jamil was allegedly given Rs85,000 for purchasing a Suzuki pick-up, which was loaded with explosives.

Earlier on June 29, Judge Samtio had acquitted Naveedul Hassan in the US Consulate blast case. The judge exonerated him from all charges for want of incriminating evidence.

While recording his statement before the trial court, the defendant denied his affiliation with any organisation. He also stated that he had been arrested on Nov 15, 2004 in Lahore, while the police had shown Nov 28 as the date of his arrest. He said the interior minister had also mentioned his arrest in an interview on Nov 17 on a TV channel.

REMANDED: The administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts in Karachi on Wednesday remanded three men, accused of kidnapping a 10-months-old boy for ransom in police custody, till July 19, adds PPI.