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KARACHI, May 31: An anti-terrorism court acquitted on Thursday an accused in a kidnapping for ransom case. Judge Ghulam Ali Samtio of the ATC-1 acquitted Zafar Iqbal from the charge of kidnapping a nine-year-old boy, Arshad Raza son of Mohammad Raza, on Jan 1, in PIB police limits.
The judge gave the defendant benefit of doubt as prosecution could not prove its case “beyond any reasonable shadow of doubt”.
According to the prosecution, the accused, along with his two absconding accomplices, kidnapped the boy in front of his house at 2.30pm. Later, he called the victim’s father, an ice-dealer, and demanded Rs7 million as ransom.
However, kidnappers allegedly agreed to receive Rs4million ransom after a series of negotiations with victim’s father. It was alleged that on Jan 17 the ice-dealer paid Rs300,000 to the kidnappers at an appointed place near Punjab Colony.
It was alleged that while the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee was trying to track down the kidnappers through their phone calls, the police on January 20 received a tip-off regarding the presence of kidnappers and the victim at a house in Gulshan-i-Iqbal.
PAMPHLETS CASE: Judge Feroze Mehmood Bhatti of the Anti-Terrorism Court
(ATC-2) put off the hearing of case against four alleged activists of the banned Hizbul Tehreer after recording the statement of three prosecution witnesses.
Shahid Mehmood, Syed Mohammed Munnawar Saleh, Amir Ahmed and Mohammed Irshad have been charged with getting objectionable pamphlets, containing material against President Musharraf, printed.
They were arrested on April 28 by the Nazimabad police during a raid at a printing press. The police also seized 6,000 pamphlets during the raid.
The prosecution examined ASI Maqbool, SI Mehmood Khan and SI Mohammed Razzaq as prosecution witnesses, who were also cross-examined by defence counsel Wazir Hussain Khoso.
The judge fixed June 2 for recording the statements of the accused.
