RAWALPINDI, March 5: A court indicted on Saturday Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan in a robbery and attempted kidnapping case registered more than 12 years ago.
Appearing before the court, the minister pleaded not guilty and termed the charges baseless and politically motivated. After recording the statement of a prosecution witness, New Town Magistrate Mehr Mohammad Sarfaraz put off the hearing till March 12.Duraiz Akhtar, the driver of complainant Sheikh Iftikhar Adil, denied the occurrence of the incident in his presence as had been alleged in the FIR registered on Aug 29, 1998.
The complainant, who owns an Urdu daily, alleged that he along with his driver was coming to Rawalpindi from Islamabad at night-time when Mr Awan intercepted his car. He said Mr Awan with the help of his men tried to kidnap him, but failed because he put up resistance.
However, the complainant said, the accused took away his bag containing important documents and Rs18,000 in cash. Sheikh Iftikhar accused Mr Awan of trying to blackmail him with the help of a journalist and said when he did not meet their demands they tried to kidnap him.
Another magistrate had indicted Mr Awan on Dec 23 last year in a related case registered with the New Town police. The complainant in that case said that Mr Awan had harassed him to withdraw the robbery case. —Reporter
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