KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Thursday granted bail to a man who had knocked down to death a young motorcyclist by a fast-moving pickup truck in Clifton near the Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine.

The investigation officer (IO) of Boat Basin police station brought the suspect, Ali Abbas Narejo, before Judicial Magistrate (South) Rijhoo Mal and requested that the suspect was no longer required for further interrogation.

During the court proceedings, the IO informed the court that the suspect had confessed to his crime during interrogation. He added that the pickup had been impounded and needed to undergo a Motor Vehicle Inspection (MVI).

The IO also informed the court that the suspect’s driving license also needed to be verified from Hyderabad.

However, the court granted bail to the suspect against a surety bond in sum of over Rs6.7 million on the grounds that the offences included in the FIR were bailable.

In its order, the court said: “The offences 320 [unintentional murder by rash or negligent driving], 427 [causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees] of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) are bailable in nature as per [second] schedule of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), hence at the first instance the accused asked to furnish solvent surety in the sum of Rs67,57,902, adding that “ the amount equivalent to the value of Diyat as prescribed under Section 323 PPC.”

The court also ruled that if the suspect failed to furnish a surety bond he would be sent to prison, and directed IO to submit challan report until May 8.

According to the FIR, the case was registered on the complaint of the father of the victim, who stated to police that he had received a phone call from an ambulance driver who informed him that near the Abdullah Shah Gazi shrine, a white car with registration number GPA-883 had been involved in an accident with his son, who was being taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) in critical condition.

Furthermore, when the victim’s father reached the hospital, he learned that his son’s death was caused by injuries to his head and face when the car had knocked him down.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2024