PESHAWAR, June 4: The prosecution in the murder case of an inspector-general of the traffic police, Farooq Haider, filed an application in an anti-terrorism court here on Tuesday, seeking permission for withdrawing charges against four accused.

Special Prosecutor Sher Muhammad filed the application under section 484 of the Criminal Procedure Code, stating that the prosecution would not be able to prove the charges against the accused, belonging to a banned sectarian outfit.

The court, presided over by Akhter Zareef Khan, fixed Wednesday for giving a ruling on the application. In case of acceptance of the prosecution plea, the accused would be acquitted of the murder charges.

Farooq Haider was killed on Oct 2, 1999, by some unidentified persons near his residence at Dabgari.

Earlier, complainant Shahid Imdad, brother of the deceased, appeared before the court and recorded his statement in which he did not level charges against any of the four accused, named as Hayat Khan, Mumtaz Khan, Ijaz and Saeedullah.

The complainant stated that on Oct 2, he had heard a gun shot outside his residence and had seen his brother in a pool of blood.

He said his brother had died, while the residents of the area had been taking him to a hospital. He added that he had not seen the assailants.

The prosecutor stated that he had gone through the police file   as well as the judicial file, and had examined 14 witnesses, including Shahid Imdad. He said he was of the opinion that even if the remaining witnesses were summoned and examined before the court, the prosecution would not be able to prove the charges against the accused.

He requested the court to allow him to withdraw the charges against the accused. He claimed that the inquiry had been conducted very poorly by the police.