KARACHI, Oct 18: The City Courts and the District Court Malir on Thursday wore a deserted look as neither the court staff and lawyers nor the people intending to attend hearings of cases could make it because of a strike-like situation across the city.
The under-trial prisoners supposed to be produced before different courts on Thursday were also not brought to the courts by police.
A small number of lawyers turned up and they too left the courts early as cases could not proceed.
Most of the stamp vendors did not open their business while canteens on the courts premises remained shut. Relatives of the under-trial prisoners did come to the police lock-up expecting the holding of hearings but the police told them that UTPs would not be sent to the courts.
A police official told Dawn that the police personnel supposed to escort the UTPs to the courts were assigned security duty on the occasion of PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto’s arrival in the city.
At the City Courts, all the four district and sessions judges — Nisar Ahmed Shaikh (South), Abdul Maalik (Central), Agha Rafiq Ahmed (East) and Arshad Noor Khan (West) — turned up but had to leave after exchanging Eid greetings with the office-bearers and members of the Karachi Bar Associat
Two boys’ murder case
An anti-terrorism court on Thursday adjourned till Friday the kidnapping for ransom-cum-murder case of two boys due to the non-production of accused Asif Masih in the court.
According to Special Public Prosecutor Niamat Ali Randhawa, two police officials appeared in court to record their depositions as prosecution witnesses in the case, but the case could not be processed.
Seven-year-old Sajid Ilyas Masih, son of Ilyas Masih,
and nine-year-old Ubaid
Riaz Masih, son of Riaz Masih, were kidnapped in Christian Para, Nai Abadi, falling in the Korangi police jurisdiction, on May 21.
Judge Abdul Ghafoor Memon of ATC-II, who is conducting the trial, indicted the accused on Sept 28. The accused pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case.
The court recorded the depositions of two prosecution witnesses on Oct 9. A young man, Samuel Masih, alias Samson, deposing as an eyewitness told the court that he and a fried of his were sitting on the pipes at a short distance from their neighbourhood when he saw the two boys (Sajid and Ubaid) going with Asif Masih in the evening on May 21.
“I caught hold of Ubaid and asked him to go back home. But he refused and asked Asif Masih to intervene. Asif asked me to let Ubaid go with him,” testified Mr Samson.
He said another man, who appeared to be a Pathan, was also waiting for Asif and they all went toward Korangi.
“Later, the news spread in the locality that the boys had been kidnapped. I told the story to Shahbaz, Sajid’s uncle, and as a result Asif Masih disappeared from the area,” he said.
A sub-inspector, Mohammad Aslam Mughal, said that during his duty hours at the Zaman Town police station, the bodies of the two victims were found. He informed the boys’ family and later the Anti-Violent Crime Cell about it.
He also described how the bodies were shifted to hospital with the help of Edhi volunteers, how they were identified and how the high-ups of the police department were intimated about the developments in the case.
According to the prosecution, one of the kidnappers, identified as Rehman Dakait, demanded Rs2 million, saying that he had paid Rs1.5 million for the boys. He said he would release the victims in return for Rs2 million.
The victims’ families told the kidnappers many times that they were unable to pay such a huge amount. The prosecution said the kidnappers then killed the boys and disposed of the bodies stuffed in gunny bags.
The area police found the bodies on May 30 and shifted them to hospital. They also informed their parents. The bodies were identified by the parents in the hospital.
According to the prosecution, the boys were allegedly kidnapped by Asif Masih, son of Anwar Masih, Rehman Dakait and Asal Din.
Following the statement of Samson, the police had arrested Asif Masih in Korangi.
