RAWALPINDI, March 6: A court here on Saturday awarded 12 years of rigorous imprisonment to a person involved in a fraud case. Civil judge Abdur Razzak imposed Rs15,000 fine on the convict Malik Muneer. In case of non-payment of fine, he will have to undergo another six months of jail-term, the court observed in its decision.

According to the prosecution, the convict had committed fraud with his business partners.

Meanwhile, the judge of the special anti-terrorism court no 1, Manzoor Ahmed Mirza, recorded statements of two MIP activists involved in the Melody Market vandalism case. The incident took place after the funeral prayers of Millat-i- Islamia Pakistan (MIP) chief Maulana Azam Tariq. Six of the accused have been granted bail by the court, while cases of the other two have been shifted to ordinary courts in Islamabad as both of them are minor.

The court also adjourned the case till March 10.

The same court also recorded the statements of two prosecution witnesses in the case wherein 14 accused had escaped from the lock-up of Kahuta police station.

The additional district and sessions judge, Syed Pervez Ali Shah, also rejected the bail plea of a person accused of lifting a cab.

The Pirwadhai police had recovered a stolen cab from the possession of the accused Shoaib.

DEADLINE EXTENDED: The government has extended the deadline for filing nomination papers for the by-elections of local bodies from March 5 to 8.