KARACHI, Oct 27: An eyewitness on Thursday identified in court two suspects booked and arrested for robbing the family of a provincial minister.

The identification parade was conducted by Judicial Magistrate (south) Hatam Aziz Solangi after completing legal formalities.

The magistrate directed the suspects to line up along with 15 dummies and called the witness to identify them. Firdous Ali Khan of a private security company identified Shahid Khan and Abid Hussain and assigned their roles in the commissioning of the offence.

The court also extended the suspects’ physical remand till Oct 29.

According to the prosecution, the suspects along with their absconding accomplices allegedly intercepted a car carrying the family of Sindh minister Jam Madad Ali on July 7, 2011 in Defence Housing Authority and deprived them of jewellery, cellphones and other valuables. The suspects also allegedly robbed a vehicle of a private security agency parked near the place of the incident, it added.

A case (FIR No.254/11) was registered under Sections 392 (punishment for robbery) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code on a complaint of the minister’s driver at the Defence police station.

Sonu, Riaz, Imran and Kamran are said to be absconding suspects in the case.

The police arrested Shahid Khan on Oct 19 in another case pertaining to the murder of a policeman during a robbery bid at a petrol pump on Oct 17 within the remit of the Defence police station. The second suspect was apprehended on Oct 25 on a lead given by the arrested suspect.

Meanwhile, the same court on Thursday also extended the physical remand of Shahid for two days in the policeman’s murder case.

Case transferred

An anti-terrorism court on Thursday transferred an illicit weapons case to a sessions court since it did not fall within the ambit the anti-terrorism act.

Mohammad Ramzan has been charged with keeping unlicensed weapons at his house in Agra Taj Colony and the police allegedly recovered the weapons last month.

The suspect through his lawyer moved an application under Section 23 (power to transfer cases to regular courts) of the anti-terrorism act.

The applicant’s lawyer contended that the offence did not fall under the ATA as merely a recovery of unlicensed weapons might not be linked with terrorism and requested the court to send the case to a regular court for trial.

Public prosecutor Abdul Maroof did not oppose the plea and stated that since these weapons were not used in an act of terrorism, therefore the offence did not fall within the ambit of the ATC.

The judge, Bashir Ahmed Khoso, of the ATC-I allowed the plea and transferred the case to sessions court (south) for trial.

According to the prosecution, a team of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell raided a house in Agra Taj Colony on Sept 11, arrested the suspect and recovered two Kalashnikovs, pistols and bullets.

The man was booked under Section 13-D of the Arms Ordinance.

Suspect remanded

A judicial magistrate on Thursday remanded a suspected gangster in prison in illicit weapon and narcotic cases.

Police arrested Noroz in Clifton on Oct 25 and claimed that they had found 1,500 grams of hashish and unlicensed weapons in his custody and that he was associated with one of the several criminal gangs operating in Lyari.

The public prosecutor, Shamim Ahmed, requested the court to extend the physical remand of the suspect.

However, the court sent him to prison on judicial remand till Nov 8 and directed the police to file charge-sheets.

The suspects was booked under Section 13-D of the Arms Ordinance and Section 9-C of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act at the Clifton police station.