November 15, 2008	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 16, 1429

KARACHI, Nov 14: An anti-terrorism court on Friday acquitted an accused in a woman’s kidnapping for ransom case.

The judge of ATC-II, Abdul Ghafoor Memon, pronounced the judgment.

The court observed that the prosecution failed to establish its case against the accused in order to prove his involvement.

Mohammad Ikramullah was charged with kidnapping Mahnaz along with her vehicle on April 29 in the limits of Gizri police station for ransom.

The suspect had allegedly released the woman on the same day after getting the ransom. However, he kept her vehicle, the prosecution said.

The police, acting on a tip-off, raided a place near a shrine on Mauripur Road on June 10 and arrested the accused.

The accused was indicted on Sept 16 on the charges of kidnapping for ransom. He pleaded not guilty and opted for trial.

The investigation officer said in the charge-sheet that the accused kept the vehicle in his use after changing its colour. The police recovered the vehicle and the ransom from the possession of the accused, it claimed.

The prosecution produced 11 witnesses in court.

A case was registered under Section 365-A of the Pakistan Penal Code and under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act at Gizri police station on the complaint of the victim’s husband.

In the final arguments, the special public prosecutor, Mohammad Khan Buriro, said that the victim and the complainant had identified the accused during an identification parade held in the court of a judicial magistrate and all witnesses produced by the prosecution had testified against the accused.

He submitted that the car painter in his statement had said that the accused had come to his shop and asked him to change the colour of the vehicle.

He alleged that the accused was a gangster, and his associates had forced the victim and her family to leave the country by threatening them of dire consequences.

However, the defence counsel submitted that his client was innocent and that the prosecution had failed to prove its case. The defence said the victim and the complainant did not turn up to testify in court.

He rejected the allegations levelled against the accused by the prosecutor regarding extending threats and said air tickets of the victim and her family had been booked in September and they willingly left the country.

He also produced four defence witnesses in court.

‘Swindlers’ remanded

A judicial magistrate (south) on Friday remanded four suspects into FIA custody till Nov 16.

The suspects, Aleem, Shahbaz Afazl, Saeed, Khurram Rafiq and Mohamamd Ayaz were arrested on Nov 12 from outside a bank branch.

The prosecution said that the suspects had called a woman by phone on Nov 10 to tell her that she had won a car in a lucky draw. Asking her to deposit Rs28,900 in the specified bank account to get the prize, they invited the woman to the bank. However, an FIA team arrested them when they tried to draw the money.

Investigators of the case said that the suspects had deceived a number of people in similar fashion.

A case (FIR No 74/08) was registered under Section 419, 420 and 471/34 of PPC and Sections 7 & 8 of the Prevention of Electronic Crime Ordinance 2007 at FIR crime circle police station.

Child marriage

Meanwhile, a judicial magistrate on Friday issued bailable warrants for the arrest of the relatives of two minor children in a child marriage case for Nov 29.

The police had conducted a raid at a marriage hall in Nazimabad on Oct 30 where a ceremony was in progress for the marriage of a seven-year-old boy with a four-year-old girl.