KARACH, Jan 28: Police on Saturday submitted a charge-sheet against a female suspect before an anti-terrorism court in a case pertaining to the kidnapping of an industrialist for ransom.

The suspect, Sabiha Karim, is the widow of Shahid Khan alias Qari, one of the three suspected kidnappers said to be associated with the proscribed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan who was killed in a police encounter during a raid in Korangi on Dec 5, 2011.

The investigation officer of the case submitted the charge-sheet under Section 173 of the criminal procedure code in court and Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso of the ATC-I accepted it for trial.

According to the charge-sheet, industrialist Riaz Tofiq Chinoy along with his driver and a gunman was on his way back home from his factory on Oct 8, 2011 when he was abducted in the Landhi Industrial Area.

The matter was reported to the Quaidabad police station by a manager of the factory. Later the kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs500 million from the captive’s father for his safe release.

The police collected call data from the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee and started a search for the victim and the kidnappers. On the night of Dec 5, 2011 a police team acting on a tip-off carried out a raid on a house in KDA Employees Society, Allahwala Town, it added.

However, the charge-sheet said, the police came under fire leading to an almost 15-minute shoot-out.

Three kidnappers — Shahid Khan alias Qari, Mohammad Babar alias Moosa and Haroon Ali — were killed in the shootout.

It further stated that the police recovered the victim, who was kept in a room, and besides seizing explosive material and two motorcycles from the house, the police also found illicit weapons. They registered cases against them under Sections 353 (criminal assault to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 324 (attempted murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code and 13-D of the Pakistan Arms Ordinance, 1965 and 3/4 of the Explosive Substance Act. The record said that motorcycles were registered in the names of Basharat Ali and Akhtar Ali, but their whereabouts were not known, the charge-sheet added.

The victim in his statement said that after being kidnapped he was kept in a house and a few days later he was shifted to another place. He also informed the police about another seven to eight men and said that a woman holding an infant in her lap, used to visit the houses in question and give him food, said the charge-sheet.

The police, again acting of a tip-off, carried out a raid in Quaidabad on Dec 8 and arrested Sabiha and found a laptop, religious books and Jihadi literature in her custody, it stated.During interrogation, she admitted that the said industrialist was abducted by her slain husband Shahid and his accomplices, who first kept him in a house in Mansehra Colony and later shifted him to Allahwala Town.

The female suspect disclosed that her husband and their friends were also involved in attacks on PNS Mehran, CID Civil Lines, Oil Terminal Keamari, residence of the CID SP in Defence, Seaview blast and bank robberies. Moreover, she also made the same admission before a joint investigation team, it added.

She also disclosed the names of seven other suspects, who were allegedly involved in the kidnapping of the industrialist.

The IO further stated in the charge-sheet that the female suspect also confessed to her guilt before the court of a judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC, adding that the suspects were associated with the banned TTP and they had carried out criminal activities on the directives of Qari Munib, a TTP commander in Waziristan.

The IO cited 31 witnesses in the charge-sheet while Ashraf Khan alias Ashrafullah, Waheedullah alias Umer, Irshadullah, Rehmanullah, Salmanullah, Abdul Manan, Ali Mohammad and Qari Munib were shown as absconders.

A case (FIR 468/11) was registered under Section 365-A (kidnapping for ransom), 109 (abetment) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 at the Quaidabad police station.