KARACHI: A sessions court on Thursday fined three guarantors of an accused hit man in six cases for failing to produce him in the court.

Rizwan Qureshi with his absconding accomplices has been charged in five murder cases and an illicit weapon case. He was granted bail in the six cases in October 2014.

He made headlines earlier this year when the Pakistan Rangers filed a joint investigation team (JIT) report in the Sindh High Court during the hearing of a petition about the Baldia factory fire case.

According to the JIT report, which was prepared in June 2013 and submitted to the SHC in February 2015, Rizwan disclosed that the Baldia factory was set on fire after its owners failed to pay protection money. The report marked him as a Muttahida Qaumi Movement worker, a charge vehemently denied by the party. Since then the court repeatedly issued warrants against him and also told the guarantors to produce him.

On Thursday, additional district and sessions judge (south) Sikandar Ameer Pahore, who was conducting the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, imposed a fine of Rs200,000, Rs250,000 and Rs150,000 on the guarantors named Farhan Qureshi, Javed Shakeel and Khalid Saeedullah, respectively.

The court observed that the guarantors failed to file a satisfactory reply as they contended that the accused was not in their contact and they were unable to produce him in the court.

According to the prosecution, Rizwan Qureshi was arrested in June 2013 for allegedly carrying a sub-machine gun and during interrogation he disclosed his alleged involvement in the other cases. He with his accomplices allegedly killed Mohammad Idrees, Syed Raheel and Salahuddin in July 2011 in North Nazimabad, it added. The prosecution said the accused along with his aides was also allegedly involved in the killing of Mohammad Furqan and Ahmed Ali at a poultry shop in Korangi in October 2012. Besides, he allegedly killed Bismillah Khan at his restaurant in New Karachi in February 2010. The accused hit man was also charged with the murder of a roadside vendor, Abdul Hakeem, near a park in New Karachi in May 2010 and Noor Zaman in New Karachi in August 2008, it concluded.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2015

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