KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court on Friday ordered release of one of the main suspects in the kidnapping, rape and murder case of a 13-year-old schoolgirl after police filed a final investigation report citing that they did not find any incriminating evidence against him.

However, the investigating officer charge-sheeted a female cousin of the deceased, her husband and their accomplice on the basis of ocular and documentary evidence, according to the final investigation report filed under Section 173 of the criminal procedure code.

The girl was taken away from her school in Federal B Area on Sept 24, 2013 and a couple of days later her body was found near the Seaview.

The female cousin of the deceased, her husband and their two male accomplices had been booked in the case under Sections 365-A (kidnapping for ransom), 302 (premeditated murder), 376 (rape) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act at the Azizabad police station on the complaint of the deceased’s father.

When the matter came up for hearing, the IO placed the name of the Quetta-based suspect in column two of the charge-sheet with blue ink, stating that he remained unable to collect any incriminating evidence against him. The suspect had been charge-sheeted in an interim report since the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test report was awaited. But the IO stated that no solid evidence was found against the suspect, who initially was believed to be the main suspect, as the police had claimed that he was in love with the deceased.

The samples of the male suspects had been taken on three occasions for DNA analyses since the IO had earlier told the court twice that the results of previous samples remained inconclusive and said that fresh samples were required.

Court sources said that they were informed by lab officials that the report could not be a conclusive one since samples of the deceased were not available.

The police had arrested the couple in Bilal Colony on Sept 28 and two eyewitnesses had also picked them out and assigned their roles about the kidnapping of the deceased during an identification parade held before a judicial magistrate.

The third suspect was arrested in October and he informed the court that he provided a subscriber identity module (SIM) card to the husband of the cousin of the victim and also made a ransom call to the family of the deceased on his directive. Later, the fourth suspect was also arrested in Quetta.

The police claimed to have recovered a mobile phone, which was used for making the demand of ransom and a motorcycle, used in the crime, from the possession of the couple.

The court accepted the charge-sheet for hearing and issued a release order of the Quetta-based suspect.