KARACHI: The administrative judge of antiterrorism courts on Monday remanded a union council chairman and a police officer in police custody till Feb 20 in the killing of a local leader of the Jeay Sindh Tehreek (JST) after a magistrate ruled that it appeared to be a premeditated murder and also came within the ambit of the antiterrorism law.

However, police still insisted before the administrative court that the offence was related to qatl-bis–sabab (manslaughter) and did not come within the parameters of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

The investigating officer, Mehboob Elahi, produced detained UC chairman Abdul Rahim Shah and sub-inspector Riaz Hussain Amir before the administrative court and submitted that the chairman was booked for manslaughter and the police officer for taking the victim to the police station to book him in an attempted robbery case instead of shifting him to hospital.

Irshad Ranjhani, the city president of the JST, was killed by the UC chairman on Feb 6 in Malir in an alleged mugging incident and police booked the victim in an attempted robbery case on Mr Shah’s complaint.

The city president of the JST was killed by a UC chairman on Feb 6 in a Malir locality

Both the suspects were booked in the same attempted robbery case, which was initially lodged against Mr Ranjhani, by inserting sections 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender) and 322 (punishment for qatl-bis-sabab) of the Pakistan Penal Code after a video went viral on social media in which the UC chairman was seen apparently not allowing people present there to shift wounded Ranjhani to hospital.

After the end of their physical remand, the IO said that both the suspects were produced before a judicial magistrate (Malir) with a request to send them on judicial remand, but the magistrate gave their transitory remand till Feb 18 with the direction that they be produced before the administrative judge of the ATCs.

The IO further submitted that the second FIR of the incident was lodged on a complaint of Khalid Ranjhani, a brother of the victim, on Feb 15 under sections 302 (premeditated murder), 201 and 34 (common intention) of the PPC read with Section 7 of the ATA.

He claimed that the complainant had not provided any evidence or witness to support the contents of the FIR and to justify the incorporation of the relevant section of the ATA in the case.

The IO asked the administrative judge to grant permission for the production of both suspects before a regular court by arguing that the crime did not come within the ambit of the ATA and asked the court to give a ruling about the fate of the second FIR.

After hearing the counsel for the victim’s family, the judicial magistrate in the order had observed that prima facie sufficient material was available for a case made out under sections 302 and 34 of the PPC read with Section 7 of the ATA.

The detained UC chairman contended that he fired at Ranjhani in self-defence as he with his accomplices tried to rob him.

However, the administrative judge in his order said that the IO and the suspects admitted that they had not challenged the order of the judicial magistrate before the competent court.

Therefore, it said that on the basis of the material available on record and after hearing the IO and suspects, both detained men were being handed over to police on a three-day physical remand.

The administrative court also asked the IO to produce them again with a progress report at the next hearing.

Khalid Ranjhani had also petitioned the Sindh High Court last week seeking the formation of a joint investigation team to probe the killing and protection for the victim’s family.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2019