KARACHI, Oct 6: An anti-terrorism court sentenced on Saturday two men to five years in prison in an extortion case.The two men — Mohammad Asif alias Dada and Javed alias Daboowala — said to be associated with one of the several criminal gangs operating in Lyari, were found guilty of extorting money from a doctor by putting him in the fear of death within the remit of the Kharadar police station in Sept 2011.

Judge Ghulam Mustafa Memon of the ATC-III also imposed a fine of Rs10,000 each and in case of default the convicts would have to undergo an additional three-month imprisonment.

The court in its verdict observed that complainant Dr Abdul Aziz and two other eyewitnesses deposed against the accused persons and their evidence remained consistent on material points.

The call data collected by the investigation officer indicated that the SIM (subscriber identify module) allegedly found in the possession of accused Asif was used in the commissioning of the present offence, it added.The verdict stated that the police on a lead given by the accused also recovered the extortion amount kept in the shop of Javed.

The court ruled that the case of the prosecution stood proved against both the accused beyond a shadow of a doubt.

According to the prosecution, the accused handed over an envelope to the dispenser of a dental clinic run by the complainant in Kharadar on Sept 15 which contained a demand for Rs200,000 protection money and extending death threats in case of non-payment.

The accused also made calls on the cellphone of the complainant and the amount was later settled at Rs20,000 and the same was delivered to the accused, it added.

The police arrested Asif on Sept 19 in Baghdadi while Javed was also apprehended on a lead given by the detained accused and they led the police to a shop where extortion money was kept.

The accused were produced in court in custody and while extending the benefit of Section 382-B (period of detention to be considered while awarding sentence of imprisonment) of the criminal procedure code to the convicts, the court remanded them back to prison with conviction warrants to serve out the remainder of their sentences.

A case (FIR 346/11) was registered under Sections 385 (putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion), 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or of grievous hurt) and 506-B (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-terrorism Act of 1997.

Show-cause notice to IOs

The same court issued on Saturday show-cause notices to two investigation officers for holding poor investigation in as many cases pertaining to the acts of violence during rallies staged in protest against an anti-Islam film produced in the United States.

The court said that the Kharadar and Preedy police stations arrested 16 and 13 suspects on Sept 21, respectively and they remained in the police custody for a sufficient time.

However, the court ruled that the perusal of police files revealed that despite a passage of over two weeks, no progress in the investigations had been made by the IOs, which was tantamount to a great misconduct and negligence on their part.

The court issued show-cause notices to inspectors Imtiaz Hussain and Shafiq Afridi of the Kharadar and Preedy police stations and directed them to appear in court and submit their replies on Oct 11.