KARACHI: An antiterrorism court has acquitted two accused in a case pertaining to the murder of rights activist Khurram Zaki.

The accused Adnan Waqar Ahmed Siddiqui, alias Jera, and Mohammad Noman, alias Chikna, along with their alleged absconding accomplice Mursaleen, alias Paya, were charged with murdering the 40-year-old activist in 2016.

The matter came up before the ATC-IV judge, who conducted the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, for pronouncement of the judgment after recording evidence and final arguments from both sides.

The judge noted that the prosecution failed to prove charges against the accused persons — Adnan Waqar Ahmed Siddiqui and Mohammad Noman — thus exonerated them of the charges.

The prison authorities were directed to release them forthwith, if their custody was not required in any other case.

In July 2019, the investigating officer had filed a charge sheet recommending the court to dispose of the case in ‘A’ class. The A-class reports pertain to those cases in which accused are unknown or untraceable.

However, later the second IO filed an investigation report before the administrative judge of the ATCs, charge-sheeting three accused in the present case.

According to the prosecution, the complainant claimed that Khurram Zaki was allegedly targeted at the behest of Maulvi Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid and Aurangzeb Farooqi of the banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) as the victim had reportedly taken part in protests against them.

It further mentioned that 19 spent bullet casings allegedly fired from two 9mm pistols were recovered from the crime scene, but a forensic examination report revealed that the weapon had not been used in any past targeted killing.

The Counter-Terrorism Department had said that Zaki had been purportedly taking active part in protests against the Lal Masjid cleric and the ASWJ leader.

He was also a complainant of a case against Maulvi Aziz for his purported refusal to condemn the attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar in 2014, in which 152 people, mostly schoolchildren, were massacred.

Zaki was also reportedly associated with media and hosted a religious programme on a private TV channel.

A case under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 324 (attempted murder) and 109 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 was registered at the Sir Syed police station.

Published in Dawn, November 8th, 2020