PESHAWAR, April 4: The Peshawar High Court on Thursday directed the SHO of Chamkani police station to inform the court about the deaths of accused charged in the murder case of Tehrik Nifaz Fiqah-i-Jaffria (TNFJ) Allama Arif Hussain Al Hussaini.

The bench comprising Justice Malik Hamid Saeed and Justice Shahjehan Khan Yousafzai took up for hearing a state appeal filed against the acquittal of ten accused by a trial court in the murder of Allama Al Hussaini.

Advocate Khwaja Mohammad Khan of Gara, appearing for the defence, informed the court that two of the acquitted accused had already expired. The bench directed the SHO, who was present in the court, to inquire about the death of the said two persons and inform the court on next hearing.

The defence counsel said that there were 56 prosecution witnesses in the case and it would take time in going through the statements of the said witnesses.

A number of lawyers including Barrister Zahoorul Haq, Khawaja Mohammad Khan and Qaiser Rasheed appeared for the defence.

Allama Al Hussaini was killed at Madrassa Maraful Islami on Aug 5, 1988. Ten accused who faced trial included a former senator, Hashim Khan, Captain (retd) Majid Raza Gillani, Ghalib Raza Gillani, Badiuz Zaman, Syed Ghulam Hussain, Sajid alias Major, Ramzan, Sher Gul, Jamilullah and Faqir Gul.

The then district and sessions judge, Peshawar, Fazlur Rehman Khan conducted the trial inside central prison and acquitted the accused on July 31, 1993.