LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Monday summoned the complainant in the kidnap case of Shahbaz Taseer, son of slain Punjab governor Salman Taseer, to record her statement.

The court had suspended the proceeding of the trial after granting bail to four suspects –Usman, Abdul Rehman, Farhad and Moazzam – in May 2014.

The ATC had reopened the trial of the suspects when one of them filed an application in August 2016, seeking resumption of the trial proceedings as the kidnapped son of the slain governor had been recovered.

The suspect further asked the court that he should be acquitted in the case since the charge he had been facing proved to be false after recovery of Shahbaz Taseer in Balochistan.

The court partially accepted the application and reopened the trial of the suspects in the case.

In the last hearing, the court had issued bailable arrest warrants of Shahbaz Taseer and complainant Ayehsa Tumi for not appearing before the court to record their statements.

The court also directed the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) superintendent of police to arrest and produce them in the court till the next hearing.

On Monday, the CTD officials presented the complainant before the court that adjourned the hearing till Sept 25 to record the statements.

Two of the suspects – Abdul Rehman and Usman – were killed in police encounter last year and two others, Moazzam and Farhad, were declared proclaimed offenders for not appearing before the court.

Shahbaz Taseer was kidnapped in the Gulberg area in August 2011 and security forces recovered him from an area near Kuchlak (Balochistan) in March 2016.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2017

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