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KARACHI, May 22: An anti-terrorism court put off on Saturday the hearing of a double murder case against two workers of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, after recording the testimonies of three prosecution witnesses.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5, who is conducting the trial inside the Karachi Central Prison, fixed May 25 for the next hearing after recording the statements of Ashfaq Hussain, Allama Zuhair Abidi and Aashiq Hussain.
The LJ activists, Ataullah and Mohammed Azam, are being prosecuted for the murder of a pesh imam of an imambargah and his son.
Syed Razi Haider Najafi, the pesh imam, who was also a teacher at a school, along with his 15-year-old son Syed Abbas Ali, was killed, and his youngest son Syed Mohammed Ali was injured around 7.45am, Sept 12, 2001, when the accused, riding a bike, opened fire on their car near Sub-marine Chowrangi in Gizri.
Special public prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum has so far examined six prosecution witnesses in the case. Defence counsel, MR Syed, also cross examined the prosecution witnesses.
MURDER CASE: The same court put off the hearing of another sectarian murder case against accused Ataullah and co-accused Riyaz, till May 25, after the recording the statements of a prosecution witness.
The accused are being prosecuted for killing one Kazim Hussain Jafferi on March 21, 2002, in an attack on his video shop in Mehmoodabad.
Two others, Fazal karim and Rizwan Akhtar, were also injured in the attack.
A judicial magistrate, Lubna Yousuf, who had conducted the identification parade of the two accused, appeared as the eighth prosecution witness. The seven other PWs were: Mohammed Hussain, Sub-inspector Sajjad Ali, ASI Shaukat Ali, constable Shabbir Hussain, Imran Sajjad, medico-legal officer Dr Mehboob Ali Memon and SI Naim Awan.
REMANDED: Two activists of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Alami, arrested in explosives case, were remanded in police custody by judicial magistrate (West), Karachi, till May 26, 2004, add agencies.
Rozi Khan alias Wasif and Ghulam Mehmood alias Gul Rahim were arrested by police from a house in Saeedullah Goth, Saeedabad, and 178 kilogram explosive material was recovered from the same house.
CHARGES DENIED: Shamim alias Shami, an alleged activist of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi on Saturday denied the charge of being in possession of illegal arms and ammunition, before Judicial Magistrate (East), Zahida Parveen.
The JM, after the accused plead not guilty, directed the prosecution to lead evidence against the accused on May 31.
The accused was arrested by Jamshed Quarter Police after recovery of weapons and other explosives from his possession. He was booked under sections 13-D and 13-E of the Arms Ordinance.
