KARACHI: LJ man’s conviction in Haideri case set aside
By Shujaat Ali Khan
KARACHI, Oct 24: The Sindh High Court acquitted on Wednesday a terrorism convict sentenced to death 23 times over for aiding and abetting the suicide bomber who exploded a device in Haideri Masjid within the precincts of Sindh Madrassatul Islam, New Chali, on May 7, 2004.
According to the prosecution, Gul Hasan, who allegedly belonged to a banned sectarian outfit, handed over the briefcase containing the explosive device to bomber Akbar Khan Niazi, a police head constable. Twenty-five people, including the bomber and a man whose body could not be identified, were killed and 98 injured in the blast.
Gul Hasan was tried by anti-terrorism judge Haq Nawaz Baloch and sentenced to death 23 times over on June 4, 2005. He was also sentenced to 980 years in jail for causing injuries to 98 people and to life term under the Explosive Substances Act. He challenged his conviction and punishment, and an appellate SHC bench comprising Justices Rehmat Hussain Jaferi and Syed Mahmood Alam Rizvi acquitted the accused for lack of evidence by a short order and for reasons to be recorded later.
Gul Hasan was also convicted and sentenced to death by the same trial court earlier in the Imambargah Ali Raza blast but was given the benefit of the doubt and acquitted in appeal by the high court.
Forty-three prosecution witnesses were examined by the trial court in the Haideri Masjid carnage but the prosecution case mainly rested on three eye-witnesses, head constable Habihullah Niazi, constable Arshad Ali (both posted at the Mithadar police station) and hawker Shabbir Ahmad, who used to come from Hyderabad every Friday to sell second-hand shirts at the nearby Habib Plaza.
The star witnesses were unanimous that four persons, including Gul Hasan, came in a car followed by a motorcycle carrying two persons, including head constable Akbar Khan Niazi in uniform. It was around noon before the Friday prayers. After entering the Sindh Madrassatul Islam compound, the six persons embraced one another.
But the unanimity ended at this stage and there was discrepancy in eye-witness accounts of what happened subsequently. While one witness said he saw Gul Hasan handing over a briefcase to Akbar Khan Niazi, another said the bomber cop himself took out a briefcase from the car. Akbar went toward the Shia mosque and others proceeded to the adjoining Sunni mosque within the compound called Jamia Masjid. The briefcase was said to have contained the explosive device.
The prosecution case, according to the appellant’s counsel, M. Ilyas Khan, was considerably weakened by the testimony of Haideri Masjid Pesh Imam, Allama Nisar Hussaini, who said vehicles were not allowed in the compound on Fridays due to bigger congregations. The prosecution also failed to produce any pieces of the police uniform or of the briefcase. Several members of the congregation, including those said to be standing close to the bomber, said they saw no uniformed cop saying prayers. The prosecution also failed to conclusively prove that eye-witnesses were present at the scene of occurrence. There was no conclusive evidence that the briefcase contained a bomb and that deceased Akbar Khan Niazi exploded the bomb, the defence counsel said.
