KARACHI, Feb 23: Two suspects managed to escape from the city courts premises following the dismissal of their pre-arrest bail applications in as many murder cases on Saturday.

Javed alias Kalia and Shahid, said to have political affiliations and booked separately by the Pakistan Bazaar police in two murder cases, had moved pre-arrest bail applications in court through their lawyers.

On previous hearings, the court granted them interim pre-arrest bail and directed them to appear in court on Feb 23 for confirmation or otherwise.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (west) Irfan Ahmed Meo dismissed the pleas after hearing arguments from both sides.

However, both the suspects walked away from the court premises in the presence of investigation officers without facing any resistance shortly after the court pronounced the orders.

According to the prosecution, Javed along with his accomplices was booked for allegedly killing Nazish in January last year since her father Habibullah, running a business, refused to pay protection money.

A case (FIR 142/12) was registered under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.Shahid was accused of allegedly killing Islamullah on December 27, 2012 over a minor dispute and a case (FIR 233/12) was registered under Sections 302 and 34 of the PPC.

Man jailed for three years

A sessions court sentenced on Saturday a man to three-year imprisonment in a robbery case.

Shahnawaz was found guilty of robbing Mehmood Shaikh within the remit of the Gulshan-i-Iqbal police station in Jan 2012.

Additional District and Sessions Judge (east) Chaudhry Waseem Iqbal also imposed a fine of Rs5,000 and in case of default the convict would have to undergo an additional three-months imprisonment.

According to the prosecution, the accused along with his absconding accomplice had snatched cash and a cellphone from complainant Mehmood Shaikh. However, in the meantime a police patrol reached the scene and after chasing the suspects, managed to arrest one of them after a shoot-out and recovered snatched articles.

A case (FIR 54/12) was registered under Sections 392 (punishment for robbery), 324 (attempted murder), 353 (criminal assault to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.