KARACHI: A former SHO was arrested and sent to prison after an antiterrorism court (ATC) dismissed his bail application in a kidnapping and ransom case on Tuesday.

According to the prosecution, in 2015, former SHO Shaikh Muhammad Shoaib alias Shooter demanded ransom after kidnapping a Karachi resident named Sharif. However, the accused did not release Sharif despite having collected the ransom amount.

After hearing the arguments from the prosecution and defence counsels, the ATC Judge V rejected the pre-arrest bail plea of the accused and directed the police to take him into custody and send him to jail.

In the detailed verdict, the judge said: “I am of the view that the [defence] counsel failed to make out the ground for confirmation of bail. I do not find any such reason at this stage to grant extraordinary relief to the applicant.”

The former SHO of Sachal police station, Shoaib filed a pre-arrest bail application last month. However, the court granted the interim bail against a surety bond sum of Rs100,000 without touching the merit of the case.

The judge noted that in 2017, the court had granted him relief, but he remained an absconder and then the judge in 2018 declared him a proclaimed offender and kept the file in dormant.

The judge also observed that during the trial, the defence counsel contended that due to the pendency of the murder case of Naqeebullah, his client was unable to appear before the courts. However, the judge rejected the defence plea as they failed to submit any documentary proof.

The case was registered at Mubina Town police station under sections 365 (kidnapping) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

This year in Jan, an ATC had already charged Shoaib, along with six other accused in the extrajudicial murder of Naqeebullah in Jan 2018. He is also regarded as a close aide of former SSP-Malir Rao Anwar.

All accused persons have denied charges and opted to contest the case.

The killing of Mehsud, an aspiring model from South Waziristan residing in Karachi, stormed social media with public outcry and sparked countrywide protests by civil society against the state’s failure to arrest the former SSP and his team.

Earlier, in Jan 2023, the court had acquitted former SSP Rao Anwar and other accused in the murder case.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2024