KARACHI: An antiterrorism court on Wednesday acquitted a man of killing Prof Dr Shakeel Auj, Karachi University’s Dean of Islamic Studies, for lack of evidence.

Prof Auj was on his way to the Iranian Cultural Centre in Clifton on Sept 18, 2014 when he was shot dead on University Road near Nipa. A student also sustained wounds in the firing, while Professor Dr Tahir Masood of Mass Communication Department, who was travelling in the same vehicle, remained unhurt.

The ATC-VIII judge exonerated the accused person, Mohammad Mansoor, for lack of evidence after recording statements of witnesses and hearing arguments from both sides.

The court observed that the prosecution remained unable to establish its case against the accused beyond a shadow of a doubt, as there were glaring contradictions in the testimonies of witnesses. 

The prosecution had examined around 10 witnesses. It said that the suspect was arrested in January 2015 and alleged that he with his absconding accomplices, Fahim Jabalpuri and Ehtesham, had fired at Prof Auj. 

The charge-sheet said that a 9mm pistol used in the attack was found in a garbage dump near the crime scene on a lead given by the suspect and he was also booked under the Sindh Arms Act, 2013. 

An eyewitness also rightly picked out the accused during an identification parade before a judicial magistrate, it added. However, the defence lawyer argued that the eyewitness was in fact set up as his evidence was shaken during cross-examination before the trial court.

A case was registered under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 324 (attempt to commit murder) and 34 (common intention) of Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 on a complaint of Dr Hassan Auj, a son of the slain professor, at the Aziz Bhatti police station.

‘Banned outfits after my father’

When contacted, the complainant said the acquittal was meant to happen because he, too, believed that Mansoor, said to be a Muttahida Qaumi Movement worker, was not the attacker. 

“It was [done by] those who had been threatening my father for long,” he said, adding that he shared the evidence with the investigators but they did not listen.

“The banned outfits were after my father and there are evidences on record in this regard. I was never satisfied with the investigation.”

The case was plotted against the MQM for ulterior motives, the victim’s son said, claiming that his family were not taken on board or informed about progress in the investigation. 

He appealed to the authorities to take into account the evidences that he had shared with the police to investigate the case accordingly. 

“The Counter-Terrorism Department also held some people belonging to the banned outfit in connection with the murder, but they were never charged with the crime,” he complained.

Soon after the arrest of Mansoor in January 2015, the Karachi police chief Ghulam Qadir Thebo claimed that the suspect was an MQM worker and confessed to his involvement in the murders of Prof Dr Auj and Prof Syed Sibte Jafar.

Video message

However, a militant group had claimed the responsibility for the murder in 2014. 

A video message released by Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) a few days after the murder of the professor claimed responsibility for the killing. 

Later, the police too stated that AQIS was behind the killing. 

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2017