KARACHI, Oct 2: Judge Feroze Mehmood Bhatti of the Anti- Terrorism Court No. 2 on Wednesday fixed Oct 14 for the hearing of three cases against the leaders and workers of the Harkutul Mujahideen Al-Aalmi.

The accused persons, Mohammed Imran, self-styled chief of the Aalmi, Mohammed Hanif, Sabir Ali and Waseem, were also supplied the copies of FIR, charge-sheet and the statements of the prosecution witnesses against them on the order of the court.

Judge Bhatti, who is holding the trial of three different cases against the Aalmi leaders and workers inside the Central Prison, Karachi, also ordered the accused to engage counsel for their defence so that they would formally be indicted in the case on the next date of hearing.

The provincial government had notified the jail trial of all cases against three workers of Harkatul Mujahideen Aalmi, who were also allegedly involved in car-bomb attack on the US Consulate, and a conspiracy to kill President Pervaiz Musharraf.

Mohammed Imran of Harkat ul Mujahideen Aalmi, the prime suspect in the US consulate bombing case, is facing trial in as many as six cases, five of them pertain to bomb blasts.

One of the cases against Aalmi chief and Hanif pertained to a bomb blast within the limits of the Darakhshan police.

The case against Sabir Ali and Waseem was registered by the Civil Lines police. Mohammed Hanif was the lone accused in the third case, pertaining to a bomb blast in Gizri.

Judge Aley Maqbool Rizvi of the ATC-1 is holding the trial of US car-bombing case and attempt on president’s life case against the Aalmi leaders inside the jail.

Meanwhile, an accountability court put off the hearing of a case against nine accused, charged with causing losses to the national exchequer through embezzlement in the funds of the provincial food department.

Judge Dr. Qamaruddin Bohra of the AC-1 fixed Oct 9 for the next hearing after recording the statements of a bank manager and an official of the food department, who appeared as witnesses for prosecution.

The accused persons, all wheat growers, did not supply wheat to the procurement department and misappropriated different amounts against the fake bills and with the connivance of the food department officials in 1999 in Khairpur.

A former food controller of Khairpur district, Mohammed Siddique Ghakhar, and another food department official had earlier been convicted by the AC-3, headed by then judge, Rahmat Hussain Jafferi.

The former food department official was arrested on Aug 19 last year for his alleged involvement in misappropriation.

There were over 50 accused, most of them are still untraceable, in the main reference, which involved Ghakhar and other food department official.

Later the case of the food officials was separated from that against the nine growers, Riaz Ahmed, Inamullah, Yaseen Sharaf, Masood Mehmood, Mohammed Ashraf, Allah Dino, Naseer Ahmed, Hussain Bux and Mohammed Ali.

Two of the accused — Riaz Ahmed and Masood Mehmood — are on bail, while the remaining seven are in custody.

Khadim Hussain, a bank manager in Khairpur, and Khadim Hussain, a clerk of the food department, recorded their statements before the judge. The prosecution has, so far, examined five witnesses against the accused.