BUNER: An anti-terrorism court here on Thursday acquitted MPA-elect Baldev Kumar and five others in a high-profile case of the murder of the chief minister’s adviser, Sardar Soran Singh, who was killed two years ago in Pir Baba area here.

The court pronounced a short order declaring that the prosecution didn’t prove its case against the accused, including Baldev Kumar, Aalam Khan, Said Jehan, Behroz, Akbar Ali and Mukhtiar, and that the evidence on record didn’t connect them with the killing.

The judge had conducted the trial inside the Buner District Prison for security reasons.

Deceased’s relative says dissatisfied with ATC verdict, will challenge it in PHC

Faisal Muneer, lawyer for Mr Baldev, contended that the prosecution didn’t produce any concrete evidence to connect his client with the killing.

Soran Singh’s brother-in-law, Gordeep Kumar, and his lawyer, Hafiz Ashfaq, told reporters that they would challenge the judgment in the Peshawar High Court as they were not satisfied with it.

They said their case was strong but the trial court didn’t appreciate the evidence available against the accused.

Mr Baldev told Dawn after the release that he had faith in the God and the judiciary and was confident that justice would be done to him.

Without elaborating, he claimed that he fell prey to ‘politics’ and was falsely implicated in the case.

“Two precious years of my life have gone to waste. Only time will expose those behind this conspiracy,” he said.

Mr Soran Singh, who was elected as MPA on a seat reserved for non-Muslims on a PTI ticket in the 2013 general elections, was killed on Apr 22, 2016, near his residence in Pir Baba area.

The case was registered under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Although the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan had claimed responsibility for the murder, the police had arrested the six accused within days of the occurrence insisting the TTP claim was not correct.

Three days after the murder, the then DIG, Malakand Range, Azad Khan, had told a news conference about the arrest of the six accused and claimed that Baldev Kumar had hired target killers to eliminate Soran Singh.

The matter took an interesting turn when the Election Commission of Pakistan declared the accused, Mr Baldev, MPA-elect on the seat, which had fallen vacant after the death of Soran Singh.

During the 2013 general elections, Mr Baldev was second on the priority list of candidates submitted by the PTI to the ECP for the seats reserved for non-Muslims.

Currently, a contempt petition filed by Mr Baldev has been pending with the PHC against the provincial assembly’s speaker and some members complaining that he hasn’t been administered oath as MPA despite the court’s orders.

He was brought to the assembly once after the speaker issued his production order. The members had protested against him and not permitted him to take the oath.

The members had also staged a walkout due to which the assembly’s proceedings couldn’t continue.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2018