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KARACHI, Aug 2: An anti-terrorism court on Saturday recorded the statement of two defence witnesses in a case pertaining to the kidnap and murder of a young man and put off the hearing till Aug 4.
Saeed Ahmed and Abdul Hakim, two neighbours of accused Abul Kalam and Abdul Razzaq, appeared before Judge Abdul Ghafoor Memon of the ATC-II and recorded their statements.
Abul Kalam, his son, Abdul Razzaq, and their relative, Mahjil Hussain, were charged with kidnapping and killing 21-year-old Kamal.
The charge-sheet said that Kamal wanted to marry the daughter of Abul Kalam. However, the girl’s family opposed the matrimonial alliance that resulted in many disputes between the two families. On Feb 13 the accused along with his son and a relative kidnapped Kamal. He was then killed and the body was dumped near Premier College.
The police registered a case (FIR No 81/2008) under Section 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. Mahjil Hussain has been declared absconder in the case.
Indictment deferred
Justice Syed Aley Maqbool Rizvi of the accountability court-I again deferred on Saturday the indictment of deputy inspector-general of the Sindh police, Altaf Hussain Bhatti, and others till Aug 18 in a reference pertaining to a land scam due to the absence of an accused.
The indictment was earlier deferred on July 16 as the judge was on leave.
The National Accountability Bureau, Sindh chapter, arrested the DIG on Dec 4, 2007 for misusing his authority to acquire more than 500 acres of government land in Thatta district.
The DIG was remanded in judicial custody.
A reference (No 59/2007) was filed against him by the NAB accusing the DIG of illegally transferring pieces of land under fake names and later on getting them allotted to himself, his family members and other relatives.
Ali Ahmed Bhatti, Usman Memon, Noor Ali, Mohammad Hussain, Usman G. Memon, Hanni Ram and Mr Thain are the co-accused while three other accused in the case have died.
