KARACHI: An antiterrorism court allowed the police on Friday to arrest Pak Sarzameen Party president Anis Kaimkhani from prison in a case registered 22 years ago.

The PSP leader with Waseem Akhtar and Rauf Siddiqui of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Qadir Patel of the Pakistan Peoples Party landed in prison on July 19 after the ATC-II dismissed their pre-arrest bail pleas in a case relating to treatment of alleged terrorists and gangsters at former federal minister Dr Asim Hussain’s hospitals.

The investigating officer sub-inspector Khalid Bughio of Hyderabad police moved an application before the ATC-II and submitted that Anis Kaimkhani and others were declared proclaimed offenders by the trial court in 1999 in an attempted murder and arson case registered in May, 1994 at the Cantonment police station in Hyderabad.

The police officer sought a no-objection certificate to arrest the PSP leader from central prison in the present case for questioning.

While allowing the application, the ATC-II judge directed the jail authorities to hand over the custody of Anis Kaimkhani to the IO after proper verification and submit the compliance report.

According to the documents filed by the IO along with his application, the case was registered on the complaint of coach driver Syed Ali Shah since he alleged that the suspects had opened fire on him and set his vehicle ablaze.

The case was registered under Sections 324 (attempted murder), 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house, etc) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Meanwhile, the same court adjourned on Friday the hearing on a bail application of Mr Kaimkhani till Saturday.

The applicant through his lawyer moved a bail application before the trial court after the Sindh High Court dismissed the application on Thursday and asked him to approach the ATC.

Questioning the maintainability of the application, the ATC-II judge asked the applicant lawyer to argue on Saturday whether or not the plea was maintainable.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2016