August 17, 2008	Sunday	Sha'aban 14, 1429

KARACHI, Aug 16: An anti-terrorism court sentenced to life imprisonment a man and his son on Saturday in a case of kidnap and murder of a 21-year-old man.

The court found Abu Alkalam and his son, Abdul Razzaq, guilty of kidnapping and killing Kamal, 21, over a matrimonial dispute on Feb 13.

The judge, Abdul Ghafoor Memon, of ATC-II, who conducted the trial, pronounced the judgment after recording final arguments from both sides.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs200,000 each. In case of non-payment of the fine, the accused would have to undergo an additional two-year imprisonment each.

The judge also directed the accused, Abu Alkalam and his son Abdul Razzaq, to pay Rs100,000 each to the family of the deceased as compensation.

The judgment said that the prosecution had successfully proved its case against both the accused by providing solid and sufficient documentary evidence and witnesses before the court.

The accused, Abu Alkalam and his son Abdul Razzaq, were indicted on May 23 on the charges of kidnapping and killing Kamal. However, the accused pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case.

According to the prosecution, the police found the body of a young man on Feb 14 near the Premier College in the limits of the North Nazimabad police station.

On Feb 15, the dead was identified as Kamal, 21, son of Abdul Haq. After initial investigations, the police arrested the accused on Feb 16.

The investigation officer, sub-inspector Hatim Khan Marwat, said in the charge-sheet that the victim, Kamal, was said to be fond of a daughter of Abu Alkalam and wanted to marry her. However, the girl’s family opposed a matrimonial alliance which led to many disputes between both families. On Feb 13, the accused with his son, Abdul Razzaq, and a relative, Mahjil Hussain, killed Kamal and dumped the body near the Premier College in the North Nazimabad police limits, it added.

The police had registered a case (FIR 81/08) under Section 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. Mahjil Hussain has been declared absconder in the case.

Around 13 witnesses were produced by the prosecution before the trial court, including judicial magistrate Khalil Anwar Jaffari, who had recorded the statements of two witnesses Salahuddin and Noor-ul-Islam under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code on March 7.

In the final arguments, the defence counsel submitted that the prosecution did not provide enough evidence to prove its case against the accused, adding that his client was innocent and falsely implicated in the case. He further said that there were contradictions in the statements of the prosecution witnesses and pleaded for the acquittal of his client.

However, the special public prosecutor argued that the prosecution had provided authentic evidence before the court and successfully proved its case against both accused. He further submitted that two witnesses had told a judicial magistrate in their statements recorded under Section 164 of CrPC that they had seen the deceased Kamal with the accused before the incident, adding that the witnesses also confirmed the same before the trial court as well and requested the court to award them capital punishment.