KARACHI, Nov 13: A sessions court on Saturday indicted a senior official of the Federal Investigation Agency and a woman on charges of murder.

Additional director of the FIA Ahsanullah Khan and Poonam Virma have been charged with killing a businessman within the remit of the Boat Basin police station in 2007.

The additional district and sessions judge (south), Abdul Razzaq, who was conducting the trial, read out all the charges against the accused. However, they pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case.

The court summoned prosecution witnesses with direction to record their evidence on Dec 9.

According to the prosecution, Shabbir Supra was killed in a flat of his secretary Poonam Virma on Oct 12, 2007 within the remit of the Boat Basin police station.

The police arrested the victim’s secretary as the last call received by the deceased on his cellphone was made from her phone.

During interrogation the woman named Humayun and the police arrested him for his alleged involvement in the case. But he was released under Section 497 (2) of the criminal procedure code (CrPC).

It added that in her statement recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC before a judicial magistrate, Poonam said that Ahsanullah Khan had asked her to call Mr Supra and he allegedly killed him when he arrived at the flat.

A case (FIR 392/2007) was registered under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 435 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Boat Basin police station.

The FIA official was on bail while the lady accused was in jail custody.

Opinion

Editorial

Plugging the gap
06 May, 2024

Plugging the gap

IN Pakistan, bias begins at birth for the girl child as discriminatory norms, orthodox attitudes and poverty impede...
Terrains of dread
Updated 06 May, 2024

Terrains of dread

Restored faith in the police is unachievable without political commitment and interprovincial support.
Appointment rules
Updated 06 May, 2024

Appointment rules

If the judiciary had the power to self-regulate, it ought to have exercised it instead of involving the legislature.
Hasty transition
Updated 05 May, 2024

Hasty transition

Ostensibly, the aim is to exert greater control over social media and to gain more power to crack down on activists, dissidents and journalists.
One small step…
05 May, 2024

One small step…

THERE is some good news for the nation from the heavens above. On Friday, Pakistan managed to dispatch a lunar...
Not out of the woods
05 May, 2024

Not out of the woods

PAKISTAN’S economic vitals might be showing some signs of improvement, but the country is not yet out of danger....