September 23, 2008	Tuesday	Ramazan 22, 1429

KARACHI, Sept 22: An anti-terrorism court on Monday indicted four men on charges of kidnapping a 45-year-old man for ransom.

The accused, Manzar Khan, Jalal Khan, Maqbool Ahmed and Habib-ur-Rahman, however, pleaded not guilty and decided to contest the case.

Judge Hasan Ali Bukhari of the ATC-I, who is conducting the trial, has summoned all the prosecution witnesses to testify in the case on the next date of hearing.

According to the prosecution, Jalal Khan, Maqbool Ahmed and Habib-ur-Rahman kidnapped Jalaluddin and his driver, Manzar Khan, on March 30, 2007 in the Korangi Industrial Area police limits and demanded Rs50 million for their release. The captive himself settled the ransom with the accused since none of his family member, except elderly parents, was present in the city.

The next day the kidnappers released Jalaluddin on the ground that he would arrange the ransom. The victim arranged the amount and, in the meantime, informed the police about the incident. As he handed over Rs500,000 to his driver, a team of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) chased the driver and arrested all the accused in the Manghopir police limits on March 31.

During the initial interrogation, the accused disclosed that Manzar Khan, the victim’s driver, along with his associates had planned the kidnapping for ransom.

Inspector Mohammad Babar, the investigation officer, stated in the charge-sheet that Manzar Khan had hatched the kidnapping plan and for this purpose he had got the help of his friends. But they released the victim after a settlement as they did not have a proper place to detain him.

A case (FIR No 224/2007) was registered under Section 365-A of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-terrorism Act 1997 against the accused on the complaint of the victim.

The court adjourned the proceedings till Oct 8, directing the prosecution witnesses to testify in the case on the next date of hearing.

Kidnap, murder case

A medico-legal officer and the investigation officer in a kidnapping-cum-murder case recorded their testimonies in an anti-terrorism court on Monday.

The investigation officer, Fayyaz, and an MLO of the Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Centre, Dr Abdul Jabbar, appeared in the ATC-II and testified.

Dr Abdul Jabbar, who conducted the post-mortem examination of the body, deposed that the cause of the death could not be traced because the body was badly decomposed and beyond identification.

According to the prosecution, the accused, Shahzad, Babar and Ms Shadab, kidnapped Mohsin, an uncle of Ms Shadab, in the Super Market police limits on Oct 23, 2007. They settled the ransom with the victim’s family and later collected Rs1 million from them. However, instead of releasing him they killed the captive.

Judge Abdul Ghafoor Memon adjourned the hearing till Sept 24.