KARACHI, July 10: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday reserved its order for July 12 on two applications in the murder case of Allama Hasan Turabi, former Sindh chief of the Tehrik-i-Islami and provincial vice-president of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal.

Judge Syed Saghir Husain Zaidi of the ATC-III fixed July 12 for the pronouncement of his order after he heard final arguments by the defence counsel and public prosecutor on the Central Prison premises.

The defence counsel had submitted two applications, one under Section 265 C for obtaining a copy of the confessional statement of the accused and the other under Section 234 and Section 235 of CrPC for framing the same charges against the accused in both attacks on Allama Turabi.

Opposing both applications, public prosecutor Niamat Ali Randhawa argued that a copy of the confessional statement could not be provided before the indictment of the accused. He said after his indictment and confession of the crime, the copy could be obtained under Section 548 of CrPC and not before that.

Arguing about the second application, the public prosecutor said the charges against the accused were of different nature as one case was registered by the Mobina Town police on April 6, 2006 in an attempt to murder case, and the second case was registered on July 14, 2006 by the Sachal police after his murder.

Allama Turabi and his young nephew, Imran Ali Turabi, were killed when a suicide bomber, identified by police as Abdul Karim, blew himself up outside the religious leader’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal house on July 14, 2006.

The severed head of the clean-shaven suicide bomber was later found lying close to the slain leader’s house.

Three police guards were injured in the attack. A woman was also struck by pellets from the explosives as she hung the washing out on the balcony.

Allama Turabi had earlier survived an attempt on his life when an explosive-laden pushcart rammed into his vehicle on Abulhasan Ispahani Road on April 6. He had then blamed the outlawed organisation Lashkar-i-Jhangvi for the attack.

Police said Allama Turabi returned home on the day of his assassination after attending an anti-Israel demonstration organised by the MMA. His vehicle was routinely escorted by a police mobile.

As Allama Turabi’s car pulled up near the gate of his house in Abbas Town, the police escort stopped at the entrance of the narrow lane. His 17-year-old nephew, Ali Turabi, was waiting for him at the gate.

Police arrested five men: Amin, Sultan Mehmood, Mohammad Rehman, Ashfaq Qureshi and Akbar Khan.

According to police, five co-accused are absconding in the case. They were identified as Khalid, Suhail Siddiqui, Ali Hasan, Hazrat Ali and Mufti Ilyas.