KARACHI: An antiterrorism court (ATC) has acquitted three men in a sectarian killing case for want of evidence against them.

Muhammad Haider alias Chhota, Syed Haider Abbas Rizvi alias Police Wala and Muhammad Kamran alias Pathan were charged with the murder of Shehzad Qureshi, said to be associated with Tablighi Jamaat, in a targeted attack in Federal B. Area in March 2019.

The ATC-X judge, who conducted the trial in the Judicial Complex inside the Central Prison, ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against the accused persons.

According to the prosecution, in March 2019 gunmen riding a motorcycle targeted Qureshi, 46, near Water Pump and fled.

After the incident, the accused were arrested in a raid conducted by the Counter-Terrorism Depart­ment (CTD), which claimed that they were associated with the outlawed Sipah-i-Muhammad Pakistan.

During the trial, defence counsel Abid Zaman contended that his clients had no affiliation with any sectarian organisation, and the prosecution’s attempts to frame the case as a religious issue were baseless.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2024