KARACHI: A local court on Thursday summoned eyewitnesses for recording their testimonies in a case pertaining to the double murder of television anchorperson Mureed Abbas and another person allegedly over a financial dispute.

Police detained and booked Atif Zaman for allegedly killing his business partners Mureed Abbas and Khizar Hayat in the Khayaban-i-Bukhari area of the Darakhshan police station the night of July 9.

On Thursday, the investigating officer (IO) produced three witnesses of the prosecution before judicial magistrate (South) Abdul Raqeeb Tunio and moved an application, requesting the judge to record their statements in the present case.

But the judge observed that the statements of the prosecution witnesses could not be recorded in the absence of suspect Atif Zaman.

The judge directed the IO to produce the suspect, who was currently under treatment at a private hospital, before the court on Friday (today) for recording the witnesses’ statements in his presence or a judicial magistrate might visit the hospital to record the witnesses’ testimonies in the presence of the suspect, the judge added.

The IO also moved an application submitting that the private hospital’s management had asked them to shift Atif Zaman to a government hospital since the dues of his medical treatment had not been paid. He requested for permission to shift the under-treatment suspect to a government health facility.

The judge asked the management of the private hospital not to remove the suspect from its facility till Friday.

Advocate Munsif Jan informed that suspect Atif Zaman wanted to engage him as defence counsel in the present case, but the police were not allowing his meeting with his client for consultation.

The court asked the counsel to first file his vakalatnama (power of attorney) on behalf of Atif Zaman.

Police said Atif Zaman was arrested in injured condition as he made a bungled attempt to commit suicide to avoid his arrest after allegedly killing Mureed Abbas and Khizar Hayat on demanding the money they had invested in his business.

Two cases have been registered against Atif at the Darakhshan police station — one under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on a complaint of Mureed Abbas’s wife and the other for attempting to commit suicide.

Infant’s abduction case

A local court on Thursday remanded a suspect in police custody in a case pertaining to alleged abduction of an infant.

Police detained Khalid Khan and booked him in a case for abducting a minor child allegedly over the refusal of the child’s mother to his marriage proposal.

On Thursday, the IO produced Khalid Khan before the judicial magistrate (South) and informed that the suspect wanted to marry a woman and allegedly abducted her seven-day-old son after she refused his proposal.

He said that the suspect kept the abducted child in Keamari, adding that the suspect was taken into custody and on his information, the child was recovered by police.

The IO submitted that physical remand of the suspect in police custody was required for interrogation to complete the investigation and other legal formalities.

Allowing the request, the judge granted four-day physical remand of the suspect in police custody with direction to produce him on the next date.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2019