KARACHI, March 2: A sessions court on Wednesday issued a warrant for the arrest of one of the three accused in the Jeddah heroin trafficking case.

The three accused — Syed Sarwat Hussain, his wife Shafia and their son Syed Afraz Hussain — have been charged with posing themselves as agents of a travel agency and fraudulently gifting heroin-filled footwear to some Umrah pilgrims who were subsequently detained by the Saudi authorities following their arrival at Jeddah airport on a charge of drug trafficking in June 2009.

A court had enlarged accused Afraz on bail.

However, he has not been appearing in court for the last three months despite issuance of notices as well as bailable warrants. Additional District and Sessions Judge (east) Chaudhry Waseem Iqbal issued a non-bailable warrant against the accused and directed the police to arrest and produce him in court till March 16.

The matter was fixed for the recording of the statements of prosecution witnesses, but it was adjourned to a next date due to the absence of accused Afraz.

The accused couple had surrendered themselves to the police on June 22, 2009 while their son was apprehended on June 17, 2009 in his house in Korangi.

A case (FIR 232/09) was registered against the accused under Sections 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) and 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Pakistan Penal Code on a complaint of the father of one of the victims at the Awami Colony police station.