KARACHI, Sept 22: An anti-terrorism court on Saturday recorded the depositions of three defence witnesses in the kidnapping for ransom case of Haji Abdul Ghaffar, a chicken dealer.

The kidnap victim was sitting in his shop located in Hussainabad when armed men took him away in the limits of the Azizabad police station on May 7, 2007.

Judge Abdul Ghafoor Memon of ATC-II, who is conducting the trial, recorded the statements of defence witnesses Imran, Shahid and Sarwar.

They said that the accused were arrested from their residence whereas the police had shown the arrest from Tariq Road which, they said, was wrong.

Special Public Prosecutor Niamat Ali Randhawa, in the cross-examination of the accused, said that the defence counsel had failed to produce any solid proof before the court which could prove the innocence of the accused.

He said it was sure that the police had arrested the actual accused in the case and it was enough for the prosecution.

Earlier, the court had recorded the statement of Mohammad Raza on Sept 5, who is an eyewitness of the incident.

He had stated that the victim was sitting in his shop when armed men took him away on May 7, 2007. He had also identified the accused and said that he was present at the time the incident took place.

According to the prosecution, Haji Abdul Ghaffar was sitting in his shop -- Waqas Chicken Centre -- when four persons came and asked him to come out.

As he came out of the shop, they forced him to get in a car and took him away. The second day they demanded Rs15 million as a ransom for his release.

The accused later agreed to accept Rs700,000. They also agreed to get the amount in instalments. They released the kidnap victim on the payment of the first instalment of Rs325,000.

The accused -- Mohammad Hanif, Mohammad Ali and Mohammad Imran -- were arrested on June 14 near Tariq Road when they had come to receive the second instalment.

According to the investigation officer of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell Shafqat Mehmood, some of the accused, including Iqbal Baloch and Shehzad, were still at large.

A case (FIR No 75/07) was registered against them in the Azizabad police station under Section 7 (e) ATA, r/w Section 365–A of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The court fixed Sept 26 as the next date for recording the statements of the other witnesses in the case.