KARACHI, Oct 24: An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday recorded final arguments in the kidnapping for ransom case against Dr Mohammad Abrar Younus and his wife Huma, who had allegedly kidnapped Dr Abdul Wahab in Shahrah-i-Noorjehan police limits on April 12, 2007 and received ransom for his release.
Judge Ghulam Ali Samtio of ATC-1, after hearing arguments from both the sides, fixed Oct 29 for the pronouncement of the order in the case.Defence counsel Rana Abdul Qayyum argued that it was a concocted story against his clients, who were falsely implicated in the case. Referring to the telephone calls made by the accused to the family of the kidnap victim, he said the whole story had been managed and was untrue.
Special Public Prosecutor Niamat Ali Randhawa said the accused had been arrested red-handed and police had also recovered the ransom amount from them. He said Dr Abdul Wahab was recovered by the police from the residence of the accused who was found tied to a bed. Moreover, he said, the surgical kit and motorcycle owned by the kidnap victim were also recovered.
Mr Randhawa argued that Huma had not submitted any proof of the transaction she might have done with the complainant doctor. Neither she submitted an affidavit nor produced a witness to substantiate her claim, he added.
He said the record about the ownership of the telephone numbers and the calls had also proved that the accused had time and again contacted Meraj Bano, the wife of kidnapped doctor, for the ransom amount and there was no doubt about the involvement of the accused in the case.
He pleaded for awarding capital punishment to the accused, saying that such people were spreading panic in society and terrorising innocent people.
Neither the police nor the private witnesses had any kind of enmity with the accused, he said, adding that the contradictions in the statement of the accused Huma were enough to prove her involvement in the case.
The prosecutor said the accused had failed to mention the date, time, place or other details about the handing over of the amount to the complainant.
The court had recorded statements of both the accused who had pleaded not guilty, submitting that they were falsely implicated in the case.
In her statement, Huma claimed that Dr Abdul Wahab wished to marry her after she was divorced by her former husband, Mohammad Aslam. She told the court that she had been working in a private clinic frequented by the doctor who started taking interest in her during that period.
She also claimed that Dr Abdul Wahab had taken a sum of Rs150,000 from her for a joint business venture but he had not yet returned the money.
Huma claimed that she had refused to marry the doctor and this prompted him to stage a kidnap drama to implicate her and her husband in the false case.Earlier on Monday, Dr Abdul Wahab was cross-examined by defence counsel Rana Mohammad Abdul Qayyum.
According to the prosecution, the accused couple had invited Dr Abdul Wahab to their residence in North Karachi on the pretext of their child’s circumcision and when he visited them, they tied him to a bed and demanded Rs300,000 for his release. Later, they allegedly agreed to reduce the amount to Rs40,000 and collected the same from the victim’s wife, Meraj Bano, at an intersection near their house.
However, the couple was nabbed by police and the Anti-Violent Crime Cell personnel while returning home on a motorcycle with the money.
Executives of the two telephone companies also deposed in the case and the calls record produced by one of them supported the prosecution in the case.
