KARACHI: Retrial of acquitted Aalmi men sought: Conspiracy case
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Jan 19: The prosecution on Friday sought re-trial of two workers of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Aalmi who were acquitted by an anti-terrorism court in the case pertaining to a conspiracy to kill President Pervez Musharraf.
Special Public Prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa moved an application in the Anti-Terrorism Court, headed by Judge Ghulam Ali A. Samtio, to issue the warrant for the arrest of Sharib and Wasim Akhtar who were acquitted by the then Judge of ATC-1, Mr Aley Maqbool Rizvi, on October 18, 2003.
The judge fixed January 22 for hearing the argument and pronouncement of order on the application of the special public prosecutor.
Judge Samtio is conducting the re-trial of Aalmi chief Mohammed Imran, his deputy Mohammed Hanfi and finance secretary Mohammed Ashraf, who were sentenced to a 10-year term by Judge Rizvi.
The retrial of the HMA leaders was ordered by the Sindh High Court on November 10, 2006 on the appeal of the convicts against the trial court judgment.
The HMA men were charged with hatching a conspiracy to blow up the president’s motorcade in April 2002.
The prosecution said a Suzuki pick-up, loaded with explosives, was parked near a shop at Falaknaz Arcade on Sharea Faisal and Kamran who is absconding had the remote control to blow up the explosives when the president’s motorcade passed the spot.
Kamran, who had positioned himself at a petrol pump near Star Gate on Sharea Faisal, allegedly pressed the remote control button several times but the vehicle did not explode. The prosecution said Naveed had assembled the explosive device and its remote control.
According to prosecution, the accused used the same explosive-laden vehicle in the US consulate bombing.
Judge Samtio acquitted on July 12, 2006 a co-accused, Naveedul Hassan, who was earlier declared an absconder in the case.
RANSOM CASE: Judge Saghir Hussain Zaidi of the ATC-3 put off the hearing of a ransom and murder case against a woman and a man after recording the statements of the victim’s brother as a prosecution witness.
Saima alias Sobia, cousin of the victim, and her friend, Zaheeruddin, are being prosecuted for kidnapping 17-year-old Syed Furqan Ali for ransom and killing him on June 2, last year in Korangi Industrial Area police limits.
The judge fixed January 22 for the next hearing after the deposition of Syed Rizwan Ali, who was also cross examined by defence counsel Khawaja Naveed and Shaukat Hiyat.
The victim’s brother said Sobia was their cousin and she had come to their house on June 2. He said the woman took his younger brother with her on the pretext that she was taking her to Mudassir Coaching Centre where the two studied.
According to prosecution, the accused took the victim to Hawkes Bay where they drowned him. The body was later found.
The alleged kidnappers demanded Rs100,000 and $50,000 as ransom for his release although they had already murdered him.
The police initially registered the case against unknown kidnappers on the complaint of victim’s brother. Later the police arrested Saima as the victim was last seen with her. During interrogation, the woman allegedly disclosed that she had kidnapped and murdered her cousin with Zaheer’s help.
