KARACHI: An antiterrorism court has acquitted four men associated with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in a double murder case for lack of evidence.

The four MQM men — Obaid alias K2, Ishtiaq alias Policewala, Abu Irfan and Shafiq alias Mota — were accused of killing assistant sub-inspector Kamil Murtaza and head constable Asif Sindhu within the remit of the FB Industrial Area police station on Feb 27, 2006.

The ATC-VII judge, who conducted the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, pronounced his verdict on Thursday after recording evidence and final arguments from both sides.

The court observed that the prosecution had “miserably” failed to prove the charges against the accused persons.

The judge exonerated them from the charges of premeditated murder, common intention and causing terror.

The court directed the prison chief to release them forthwith if their custody was not required in any other case.

Obaid K2, one of the activists, was arrested by Rangers in a raid on Nine Zero in 2015

According to the prosecution, ASI Murtaza and HC Sindhu were busy in routine checking near the Shafiq Mor bus stop when armed men opened fire on them and fled.

The prosecution had examined 12 witnesses, including an eyewitness, the investigating officer, the complainant and the judicial magistrate who had conducted the identification parade of the accused.

The Sindh Rangers had arrested Obaid K2 during a pre-dawn raid on the Nine Zero headquarters of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in March 2015.

The trial court had indicted the four men and they pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the charges.

During the trial, all the accused persons recorded their statements under Section 342 of the CrPC, denying their involvement in the offences they were accused of and claimed innocence.

A special public prosecutor for the paramilitary force argued that the eyewitness, Anis, testified that he ran a roadside cabin when accused Obaid alias K2 came to his shop to buy cigarettes. Then the accused walked across the road, where two policemen in uniform were busy in routine checking. He opened fire on them and fled in a vehicle.

He argued that there was enough evidence to determine the role of the accused persons in the commission of the offences and pleaded to convict them in accordance with the law.

On the other hand, defence counsel Abid Zaman submitted that the lone eyewitness during an identification parade had claimed to have identified his clients as killers of the slain policemen.

However, he contended that the testimony of the eyewitness was doubtful, as the case properties suggested that the deceased cops were in civvies when murdered instead of official uniforms.

He further contended that the prosecution had framed his clients in the criminal case, but failed to produce sufficient evidence to establish their role in the commission of the alleged crime.

He asked the court to acquit them of the “false” charges.

A case under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with the Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 was registered on the complaint of the bother of the deceased ASI.

Three get life in rape, murder case

A district court on Friday handed down life imprisonment to three accused in a rape and murder case.

The convicts — Ishtiaq Hussain, Iftikhar Hussain and Taj Bux — were found guilty of subjecting an aged woman to rape and later killing her to conceal their crime.

Additional Sessions Judge (East) Sultan Ali Laghari pronounced his verdict, which was reserved earlier after recording evidence and final arguments from both sides.

The judge found them guilty of sexually assaulting the victim and then killing her and handed down life imprisonment to them.

The judge also imposed a fine of Rs100,000 each on the convicts.

According to the prosecution, Ishtiaq Hussain and Iftikhar Hussain, owners of a restaurant on Tariq Road, along with their watchman had thrown the victim’s body on the road and later informed the police that the body was thrown by some suspects from a rickshaw.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2018