LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Saturday adjourned hearing of Zain murder case after two prosecution witnesses refused to recognise prime accused Mustafa Kanju, son of former state minister Siddique Kanju.

Earlier, maternal uncle of Zain, complainant of the case, had also told the court that he did not know whether Mustafa Kanju killed his nephew. The court on an application of the prosecution summoned record of television channels to watch statements of complainant Sohail Afzal wherein he accused Kanju of killing Zain.

The court had in June indicted Mustafa Kanju and six others on charges of killing 16-year-old orphan Zain and injuring Hussain, 18, in Cavalry Ground area.

According to the prosecution, Kanju was drunk when his car hit another vehicle driven by a woman. It said Kanju got infuriated and opened fire. However, the woman had already driven away from the scene and Zain and Hussain, the passersby, had fallen prey to the firing.

On Saturday, Hussain and his father Zahoor appeared before the court and recorded their statements. Hussain said he was standing outside his house when a bullet hit him causing injuries. However, he said he did not know who fired the shot.

In his statement, Zahoor said he was in the house when he heard the fire shots. When he came out the house, he found his son injured and took him to the hospital. Zahoor said he was unable to recognise the people who were firing.

The court recorded the statements of the duo and asked the prosecution to present more witnesses on Sept 10.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2015

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