September 07, 2008	Sunday	Ramazan 06, 1429

KARACHI, Sept 6: An additional district and sessions court acquitted on Saturday an alleged gangster of Lyari, Arshad Pappu, and others in two cases due to lack of evidence.

The judge, Noman Memon, who is conducting the hearing inside the Central Prison, pronounced the verdict after recording the final arguments on the acquittal pleas from both sides.

The court in its verdict observed that the prosecution did not provide any solid evidence to prove the involvement of the accused in the two cases registered in 2004 and 2005. The court after examining the prosecution’s papers found no evidence, which might connect the accused with the alleged offence, since there was no probability of conviction, therefore the court allowed the applications, it added.

In the first case, the court acquitted Arshad Pappu, his brother Yasir Arafat, Nasir Bangali, Mohammed Zakria and Sheraz. The prosecution said the police on March 7, 2005 had conducted a raid at the Mewa Shah graveyard following information that Arshad Pappu was present there with his associates. Suspect Mohammad Zakria was arrested after a shootout with the police while the others escaped.

The arrested suspect in his statement claimed that Arshad Pappu, Yasir Arafat, Nasir Bangali and Sheraz were with him and fled the scene during the shootout. A case (605/05) was registered on behalf of state under Sections 324, 353, 168/34 of the PPC at the Pak Colony police station.

In the second case, Arshad, his brother Yasir Arafat and their associates were charged with hijacking a passenger coach on July 11, 2004 in the limits of the Pak Colony police station. Later, they allegedly took the coach to the Mewa Shah graveyard, looted the passengers and set the bus alight. The court acquitted Arshad and Yasir in the case.

A case (FIR 129/04) was registered under Sections 395, 379, 360/34 and Section 4/5 of the Explosive Act against the accused on the complaint of Attaullah, chairman of the Balochistan-Sindh coaches’ association, the at Pak Colony Police station.

Defence counsel Mohammad Farooq moved two acquittal applications under Sections 265-K of CrPC to the court.

He argued that in the first case his clients were merely implicated on the statement of a co-accused and the prosecution had no evidence against the accused, adding that the police did not nominate the conductor of the bus as an eyewitness in the second case, whereas there were glaring contradictions in the statements of witnesses who have testified so far.

He further submitted that the prosecution had failed to provide any solid witness or documentary evidence against the accused despite lapse of many years and pleaded for the acquittal of his clients. However, the public prosecutor opposed the acquittal pleas.