KARACHI, Nov 27: An anti-terrorism court put off on Monday hearing of the US diplomat killing case against two activists of Al Qaeda after recording the deposition of a 10th prosecution witness.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5, who is conducting the trial inside the Central Prison, fixed November 30 for the next hearing after recording the statement of Sub-inspector Mohammed Ajmal Awan, who was also cross-examined by defence counsel Ilyas Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed.
Two Al Qaeda activists – Anwarul Haq and Usman Ghani -- are being tried for masterminding suicide car bombing to kill a US diplomat.
Four people were killed on March 2 when a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the diplomat’s vehicle yards away from the US consulate-general.
The blast that took place in a narrow lane between the Marriott Hotel and the Naval Surgery Hospital also left over 50 others wounded.
US Consulate official David Foy, his Pakistani driver Iftikhar and Lance Naik Zafar of rangers were killed instantly.
The body of the suicide bomber, later identified as Mohammed Tahir, was also torn into pieces.
According to investigators, the explosive-laden car was parked outside the naval establishment, and when the convoy carrying the United States official appeared, the bomber rammed his vehicle into the bullet-proof car.
The vehicle flew up into the air before landing across a concrete barrier on the pavement of Marriot.
Sub-Inspector Ajmal deposed that he was posted at the Artillery Maidan police station.
He said the information about the blast was received at the police station at about 9.10am and he along with the investigation officer, Mohammed Tariq, and other police personnel reached the spot at around 9.15am.
Sub-Inspector Ajmal said that at least seven vehicles were badly damaged in the blast and the investigation officer seized parts of the damaged vehicles.
The sub-inspector stated that after inspecting the spot, he and the investigation officer went to the United States consulate where they obtained a compact disc (CD) containing the footage recorded by the consulate cameras.
Later, he said, they went to the Marriot Hotel and got the CD containing the recording by hotels cameras.
The defence counsel suggested that the prosecution witness did not visit the spot and all the memos were prepared at the police station. The prosecution witness, however, denied the suggestion.
According to the prosecution, represented by special public prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa, the investigation officer, Inspector Tariq, got a clue about the identity of the suicide bomber in August.
According to the charge-sheet, Mohammed Tahir, son of Raja Afzal, had left his Landhi house on March 2 after Fajr prayers and later his family was informed of his martyrdom.
On August 15, the investigation officer visited the house of the suicide bomber and recorded the statement of his father.
Raja Afzal told the investigator that his son had gone to Afghanistan for Jihad thrice and had also been imprisoned in Afghanistan.
The father of the suicide bomber told the investigation officer (IO) that a man visited his house thrice after the disappearance of his son and gave him Rs5,000, Rs8,000 and Rs10,000 during his three visits.
Raja Afzal also told the investigator that the same man contacted his another son, Raja Mohammed Idrees, who is a student at Binori Town Madrassah in July to tell him that Tahir had been martyred.
On August 18, the investigation officer recorded the statement of Idrees, who also supported the statement of his father.
The brother of the suicide bomber told the investigation officer that he knew one of his brother’s friends, Usman, who had brought his letter to the family from Afghanistan during his detention there.
