KARACHI, Sept 17: The Anti-terrorism Court-II on Monday put off the hearing of a case pertaining to the kidnapping of a woman, Ms Shahida, and her son, Zahid, till Sept 18. They were abducted from a factory located in the limits of the Khwaja Ajmer Nagri police station on June 20, 2007.

The ATC Judge, Abdul Ghafoor Memon, adjourned the hearing due to the absence of lawyers, who observed a boycott of courts proceedings on Monday in protest against the killing of their colleague, Ateeq Ahmed Qadri, in an attack a couple of days back.

On Sept 15, the court had recorded the statement of a witness, Ms Shazia, who was arrested and interrogated in the case. She was, however, released later.

Two accused in the case, Maqbool Ahmed and Ghulam Qasim, are currently in judicial custody and have been charged with kidnapping Ms Shahida and demanding a ransom of Rs800,000 for her release.

The witness, Ms Shazia, told the court that she worked with Ms Shahida in the factory and was arrested on the complaint of the victim’s relatives, who had accused her of being involved in the crime. However, she added, she was released after police interrogated her.

During the process of investigation, police had played an audio recording of the criminals who were demanding the ransom, she stated, adding that she was asked if she could recognise the voice. She further stated that she recognised the voices of Maqbool Ahmed and Ghulam Qasim, who also worked in the same factory.

The accused were accordingly arrested in raids on their residences and the kidnapped woman, Ms Shazia, and her two-and-a-half-year-old son, Zahid, were recovered.

On the next date of the hearing, the court will record statements of other prosecution witnesses.