KARACHI: Verdict in doctor’s kidnap case deferred as accused unwell
By A Reporter
KARACHI, Oct 29: The Anti-terrorism Court-I on Monday deferred for one day the pronouncement of its order in a kidnapping for ransom case as one of the accused was taken ill and unwell rushed to a hospital.
Judge Ghulam Ali Samtio of the court was to announce the verdict on Monday in the case against a couple, Dr Mohammad Abrar Younus and Huma who have been accused of kidnapping Dr Abdul Wahab on April 12 this year and receiving ransom.
The case was registered by the Shahrah-i-Noorjehan police.
The court observed that the verdict could not be announced in the absence of the accused.
During the final arguments, defence counsel Rana Abdul Qayyum had submitted that the case was based on a concocted story and that his clients were implicated in a false case.
Special Public Prosecutor Niamat Ali Randhawa told the court that the accused had been arrested red-handed by police and AVCC personnel, who had also recovered the ransom amount from the possession of the accused. Dr Abdul Wahab was recovered from the residence of the accused couple. He was found tied to a bed. Moreover, he said, the surgical kit and the motorcycle owned by the kidnap victim were also recovered from the vicinity.
The prosecutor argued that Huma had submitted no proof of the transaction she claimed to have done with the complainant. Nor had she produced any affidavit or witness to substantiate her claim that he had handed over any amount to the complainant for a joint business.
He said the record of telephone calls made by the accused for seeking ransom had also proved that the accused had repeatedly called Meraj Bano wife of Dr Abdul Wahab to demand ransom money for his release.
He also made mention of contradictions in the statements given by Huma.
In her statement, Huma had 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 Dr Abdul Wahab, who had 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 and was not willing to restore the money to her.
Huma alleged that her refusal to marry him had prompted the complainant to stage a kidnap drama and implicate her and her husband in the case.
On Monday, Dr Abdul Wahab was cross-examined by the defence counsel.
According to the charge-sheet, the couple had invited Dr Abdul Wahab to their residence in North Karachi to attend a function and upon his arrival, they tied him to a bed and sought a ransom of 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 at an intersection near their house.
The couple was nabbed by police and the AVCC personnel while they were on their way back home on a bike with the ransom money.
Executives of the two cellular phone firms also deposed in the case and produced the call records pertaining to the conversation between the couple and the complainant’s wife.
Part of the record appeared supportive of the complainant’s allegation.
