KARACHI, Nov 30: Two alleged militants of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi were acquitted by an anti-terrorism court on Friday in a sectarian killing case. Mohammad Tehsin and Anwar Baloch were facing trial inside the Central Prison Karachi on charges of killing Syed Asghar Ali Zaidi within the precincts of the Baghdadi police station in 2002.

Judge Ghulam Ali Samtio of ATC-I giving them the benefit of the doubt acquitted the two accused as the prosecution failed to establish their case. The court also ordered the authorities concerned to release them forthwith if not required in any other case.

On Thursday, the court had reserved its verdict after hearing the final arguments of defence counsel Mushtaq Ahmed and special public prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa.

Police sources said that accused Anwar Baloch was the brother of Gul Hasan, an alleged Lashkar-i-Jhangvi leader who had been tried in the Hyderi Mosque and Imambargah Ali Raza suicide bombing cases. Gul Hasan had been acquitted in both cases by an anti-terrorism appellate bench of the Sindh High Court, they added.

According to the prosecution, the two accused riding a motorcycle came to Asghar Ali Zaidi’s tailoring shop in Nayabad area in the Baghdadi police’s jurisdiction and shot him dead on May 7, 2002. The assailants fled safely into the narrow lanes.

Later, Mohammad Tehsin and Anwar Baloch were arrested as police believed that they were involved in the case.

The defence counsel had argued that the whole prosecution story relied on statements of eyewitnesses whose names were not mentioned in the FIR.

Pointing out several contradictions in the case made out by the prosecution counsel, he prayed the court to give the benefit of the doubt to his clients and order their acquittal as they were falsely implicated in this case.