KARACHI, March 22: Amid tight security the principal accused, Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh, and co-accused Adil Shaikh in the Daniel Pearl case were remanded in judicial custody by the judge of an anti-terrorism court on Friday, as the prosecution submitted the interim challan against the principal accused and 10 others in a proceeding from which the media and everyone else was barred.

The Advocate-General Sindh, Raja Qureshi, submitted the interim challan before Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the ATC who, while admitting the challan, asked the prosecution to submit the final challan on March 29 and produce all the four accused in custody on that date.

They have been charged with kidnapping for ransom, murder, and terrorism coupled with conspiracy for which, if convicted, they could be awarded death penalty.

The accused were booked under section 365-A (kidnapping for ransom), 368 (Wrongfully concealing or keeping in confinement, kidnapping), 302 (murder/Qatl-i-amd), 205 (False personation), 120 A (Criminal conspiracy) and Section 34 of PPC.

The other sections against the accused include section 7 (A), B (a) (b), (c), 6 (2), (b), (c),(e), (f), 11 V (1) (a), (b) (2), 11 L (a), (b), 7 (a), (b), (e), 11 H (2), (a), 11 W (1), (2), and 7 ATA.

The accused are Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh alias Muzaffar Farooq, Shaikh Mohammed Adil, Salman Saqib, Fahad Nasim, and seven absconders, Amjad Husain Farooqi alias Haider Farooqi alias Hasan, Asif alias Qasim, Hashim, Qari Abdul Qadeer, Hasan alias Ahmed Bhai, Imtiaz Siddiqui and a person who bought a Polaroid camera. The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl went missing on Jan 23 in Karachi and on Feb 22 he was declared dead after the authorities received and examined a videotape containing visuals of him being killed.

The counsel of the two accused present in the court, Omar and Adil, who were not present, were provided the copy of the interim challan, and the AG Sindh undertook to provide copies to the other two co-accused who are in jail custody.

The ATC Judge, Arshad Noor, in his order, said: “Accused Fahad Naseem and Salman Saquib have not been produced by jail authorities. Issue production order for them. Interim challan by prosecution is accepted with the further direction to submit final challan in seven days till March 29 instant. The copies of prosecution’s case have been supplied to the accused present in court under section 265 (c) of CrPC and receipt obtained.

“Raja Qureshi, the Advocate-General, Sindh, has undertaken that copies should be supplied to accused in judicial custody in jail today. Accused are remanded to judicial custody till 29-3-2002.”

The prosecution has relied on circumstantial evidence and showed recovery of two e-mails, one in Urdu, one scanner, one laptop computer and its hard disc photograph of Pearl, a video cassette, receipt of purchase of the scanner, receipt of the purchase of the Polaroid camera and two National Identity Cards.

The prosecution has also stated that though dead body of Pearl and the weapon of his murder have not yet been recovered, but there are possibilities of the recovery of the dead body of the American journalist.

The prosecution has also stated that genuineness of the video tape showing Pearl’s murder was confirmed by PTV engineers who examined the tape with the permission of the General Manager, Karachi TV.

The prosecution has also attached confessional statements of the two co- accused, Fahad Nasim and Salman Saquib, who are in judicial custody, along with the statements of two witnesses.

The AG, who was accompanied by SSP Investigation Manzoor Mughal, later told newsmen that a list of 31 prosecution witnesses, including FBI officials, had been submitted along with the interim challan. Names of FBI personnel were not mentioned in the interim challan.

The list of prosecution witnesses include the name of Mariane Pearl, who lodged the FIR of her husband’s abduction, police inspector Javed Abbas, head constable Ashiq Ali, Nasir Abbas, Faisal Khan Afridi, CPLC chief Jameel Yousuf, Asif Mehfooz Farooqi (journalist), Mehmood Iqbal, Naeem Ahmed, Zaheer Ahmed, Chaudhary Nazar Husain, ASI Noor Mohammed, head constable Mohammed Iqbal, Mohammed Arif Zakaria, Rajesh Kumar, Abdul Majeed, DSP Investigation-II Ather Rasheed Butt, DSP Asghar Osman, inspector Rao Aslam, Faisal Noor, Colonel Osman (retd), an official of Mobilink.

Mr Qureshi said once the court had examined and admitted the final challan and framed charges, trial of the accused would begin. “The formal trial will begin on March 29,” he added.

Under the law, trial has to be completed in seven days. It is not yet clear whether the complainant, Mrs Pearl, who is pregnant, would be in a position to undertake the journey soon to enable the prosecution here to complete the trial within the mandated time frame.

Asked about Omar’s Feb 14 statement before Judge Arshad Noor that he had masterminded Pearl’s abduction and declared that he believed Pearl was dead, Mr Qureshi said it was extrajudicial statement, though it could be used against him.

According to sources, when Omar drew the attention of the court to his handwritten application with a request for allowing him to meet his relations, the prosecution contended that now that he had been remanded in jail custody, he should route his request through the jail authorities, as per rules.

Several hundred policemen posted at the roadsides and on roof tops in and around the court premises and about two dozen police mobiles were used to escort the APC in which the two accused were brought to the court.

Omar and Adil were supposed to be produced before Justice Shabbir Ahmed, the Administrative Judge of the anti-terrorism courts, who had granted extension in police custody until March 22 “as a last chance.” But as he was indisposed and at present sitting on the Hyderabad circuit bench, he could not come. Therefore, the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court asked the AG to submit the interim challan before Judge Arshad Noor.

Adil’s brother Shaikh Aslam and his mother, who wanted to see him, were also not allowed inside the court premises despite attempts by a local lawyer to seek the court’s permission.

Aslam said I and mother wanted to know about Adil’s welfare. He said he approached many officials, but to no avail.

The counsel for some of the co-accused, Khawaja Naveed Ahmed said he later filed an application before the ATC judge claiming that Salman Saqib had told him that he was suffering from hepatitis and passing blood in stool.

The judge ordered the jail authorities to submit report on the next date.

Khawaja Naveed claimed that dead body of Pearl had not be recovered, cause of death was not known, place of murder had not be established, weapon of offence had not been recovered, nor had his place of confinement been identified.

The statement of the taxi-driver and identification of the principal accused by him and the handwriting expert’s report could safely be labelled created pieces of evidence and no conviction could be based on such evidence.