KARACHI, May 28: Additional district and sessions judge-VII, South, Irfan Hussain Siddiqui on Wednesday issued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of former National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman Saifur Rehman Khan, his brother, Mujibur Rehman Khan, former inspector-general (IG) of Sindh police Rana Maqbool, former deputy inspector-general (DIG) of Sindh police Farooq Amin Qureshi and former superintendent of the Central Prison Karachi Najaf Mirza in a case pertaining to a 1999 attempt on the life of Asif Ali Zardari, now co-chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party. The matter was adjourned till June 14.The court directed police to arrest the accused and produce them in court on the next date of hearing. It also asked the investigation officer (IO) of the case to appear in court along with the relevant documents.

Earlier, the defence counsel submitted to the court a certified copy of the Sindh High Court’s ruling on the case.

He accused the respondents of unlawfully obtaining physical custody of Asif Zardari from an anti-terrorism court on the night between May 15 and 16, 1999 and taking him to the CIA Centre.

He told the court that his client was subjected to torture at the CIA Centre and forced to record incriminatory statements. He said his client suffered injuries to his tongue and other parts of his body due to the torture. The police had refused to register an FIR against the police officials and, instead, attributed the incident to Zardari’s bid to commit suicide.

The lawyer stated that a case was registered in February 2005 at the Artillery Maidan police station after an inquiry conducted by a district and sessions judge established that the injuries were not self-inflicted. The trial court, however, disposed of the case and acquitted all the accused in June 2006.

Asif Zardari had moved a revision application in the Sindh High Court to challenge the trial court’s order. On May 27, a single bench of the high court comprising Justice Bin Yamin suspended the trial court’s order.