KARACHI, July 5: The district and sessions judge, East, Sain ali Dino Matilo, acquitted a man in a doctor’s murder case.

Karim Fazal Hussain, belonging to the Ismaili community, was prosecuted for killing Dr. Mohammed Usman Cheepa on Oct 7, 1999, at his clinic in Soldier Bazar.

The doctor was shot dead around 7:30pm when he was attending to his patients. The assailant managed to flee and the police registered a case against unknown culprits on the complaint of the doctor’s compounder.

Then SHO of the Soldier Bazar, Inspector Mohammed Salim Tanoli, arrested the accused on Oct 10 and showed his arrest at Nishter Road, Lasbella, also claiming the recovery of an unlicensed pistol and a knife from him.

The prosecution examined in all 11 witnesses, including three eye-witnesses, in the case.

In his arguments, defence lawyer Shahadat Awan submitted that his client was implicated by SHO Tanoli, who had assumed the charge of SHO of Soldier Bazar only a day before the incident.

He argued that the SHO implicated him in the case only to show his efficiency to superiors as the rate of incidence of sectarian killings was high during the relative time.

He submitted that the police highups had warned the SHO that if he failed to contain sectarianism in his vicinity, he would be removed.

Placing on record the relevant record, the defence counsel submitted that SHO Tanoli had earlier booked his client in other cases of robbery and dacoity. However, he said, the accused was honourably acquitted by the court as all cases were cooked up.

Besides, he referred to the cross-examination of eye- witnesses, who had submitted that they had been shown the accused prior to his identification parade in the court of the judicial magistrate.

The defence counsel also called in question the deposition of an eye-witness, Ghulam Rasool Sabri. He said the PW was a “stock witness”, who had already appeared as prosecution witness in many other cases.

Meanwhile, the district and sessions judge, South, Agha Rafique Ahmed Khan, ordered the police to return the licensed weapons of Shoaib Khan, a local businessman, to him.

The court issued orders to this effect on an application of the businessman, who was recently acquitted in an arms case.