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KARACHI, Feb 21: An anti-terrorism court put off on Friday the hearing of a sectarian killing case against the chief of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Akram Lahori, and his two associates, after the statements by the defendants who denied charges against them.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5, who is conducting the trial inside the Central Prison, fixed Monday for hearing the final arguments from special public prosecutor and the defence counsel.
According to prosecution, Lahori, Mohammed Azam and Ataullah shot dead Dr. Syed Aley Safdar Zaidi of the Kidney Centre on March 4, 2002 when he was on his way to the hospital from his home in Gizri.
Two motorcyclists opened fire on his car (ABU-495) as he stopped at a signal near Sultan Masjid. He died on the spot.
The three accused deposed before the court that they were innocent as they had been implicated in the sectarian killing case by the police. They also disputed the time and place of their arrest as claimed by the police.
Meanwhile, the prosecution supplied the three Lashkar men with the copies of the required documents of another sectarian killing case.
The judge fixed Monday for the indictment of the three accused in the case, which pertained to the killing of two people in an attack on a imambargah in Shah Faisal Colony.
JUSTICE NIZAM CASE: The trial of Justice Nizam murder case could not proceed on Friday as the prime accused, Asif Ali Zardari, was not produced in the court.
The district and sessions judge, Central, Zafar Ahmed Sherwani, put off the hearing till March 27, ordering the jail authorities to produce Asif Ali Zardari before the court on the next date.
The spouse of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto along with three co-accused — Akhtar Javed Pirzada, Bilal Shaikh and Babar Sindhu — are facing charges of double murder.
The former judge of the Sindh High Court and his son, Nadim Ahmed, a lawyer, were shot dead in an attack in 1996 near their house in the limits of the Ferozabad police.
MAJOR ZARGHAM: The judicial magistrate, South, Rahmat Ullah Moro, recorded the statement of a colonel in the inquiry into a direct complaint against the chief of the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee and 19 others, including a senior superintendent of police, for involving an army officer in a Hudood case.
Major Muhammed Zargham Mirza had lodged a direct complaint before the judicial magistrate for registration of criminal case against 20 respondents, including Jamil Yousuf and A. D Khawaja, under section 182, 500 and 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The army officer, who had conducted the summary of evidence, placed on record the statements of 21 witnesses.
Those made respondents in the complaint included: Zaeem Iqbal, ASP, Lubna Tiwana, then SHO of Women Police Station, Inspector Abdul Hakim Bangash, Azhar Ellahi and Sharif Memon.
The JM put off the matter till March 4 when he would record the statements of more witnesses.
