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KARACHI, Nov 21: An anti-terrorism court reserved on Monday its order till Nov 26 on a bail application filed by the interned chairman of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (Haqiqi), Afaq Ahmed, in a kidnapping for ransom case.
The MQM-H chief was on Oct 6 formally arrested in a 2001 case pertaining to the kidnapping of Jameel Ahmed for ransom within the remit of the Korangi police station.
Judge Khalida Yasin of the ATC-II, who is conducting the trial inside the Karachi central prison due to security considerations, reserved her order after hearing arguments from both sides.
The applicant's counsel argued that it was a politically motivated case and his client was not nominated in the FIR.
He contended that the case was registered in 2001 and the applicant, who had been in prison since April 2004, was arrested in the present case only last month when he got bail or acquitted in all other cases against him.
The counsel maintained that there was no evidence against his client while the court had already acquitted two other accused, including former member of Sindh Assembly Younus Khan, in this case for want of evidence.
He prayed to the court to allow the bail application.
However, the public prosecutor opposed the plea and argued that sufficient evidence was available against the applicant and his application was not maintainable at this stage.
A lawyer who appeared on behalf of complainant Jameel Ahmed also argued against the plea. The counsel submitted that there was enough evidence against the applicant to prove his guilt as a senior officer of Pakistan Rangers, Sindh had deposed in his statement that the captive got released after negotiations with the applicant and Younus Khan had handed the victim over to Rangers.
He also prayed to the court to dismiss the bail plea.
Mr Ahmed, who has been in prison since April 2004, was granted bail by the Sindh High Court on Sept 26 in the last of the cases against him, but the authorities disallowed his release and detained him under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance for one month.
On Oct 6, the police, through an application, informed the court that Mr Ahmed was identified as one of the two absconders in a case pertaining to the kidnapping of Jameel Ahmed in 2001.
According to the prosecution, the victim was called at Bait-ul-Hamza, the then headquarters of the MQM-H, where he was abducted and the kidnappers demanded a ransom for his safe released.
A case (FIR 201/2001) was registered under Sections 365-A (kidnapping to extort money), 109 (abetment) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 at the Korangi police station.
