KARACHI, Nov 15 A judicial magistrate (south) on Saturday re-issued bailable warrants for the arrest of former Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim and 19 other prosecution witnesses for not appearing in court to testify in a case registered against Dr Agha Javed Pathan.

Javed Pathan was arrested on April 9 on charges of manhandling Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim and a case (FIR 202/08) was registered at the Preedy police station under Sections 502, 452, 506-B 337- A and F of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The police claimed that they had also seized illegal weapons, hashish and a stolen motorcycle from Pathan's possession and registered three other cases (FIRs 199/08, 200/08 and 201/08) against him under Sections 392 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 13-D of the Arms Ordinance and Section 6/9-A of the Control of Narcotic Substance Act at the Preedy police station. Later, Agha Pathan got bail in all the cases.

The hearing was adjourned till Dec 3.

Remand in kidnap case

The administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts, Karachi, on Saturday extended the physical remand of a woman and her three associates till Nov 18 for kidnapping a 14-year-old boy for ransom.

The suspects Laiba, Imran Ahsan alias Sunny, Salman Qureshi and Zubair are facing charges of kidnapping Talha Siddiqui, 14, on Nov 2 in Gulshan-i-Iqbal when he along with his father was driving back to his residence. The kidnappers had demanded Rs25 million for his release.

However, the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee and the Anti-violent Crime Cell had jointly raided on Nov 4 in the limits of Gulistan-i-Jauhar police station and arrested the suspects.

The police also recovered the victim from their custody and lodged a case under Section 365-A of the PPC on the complaint of the victim's father.

Court boycott

The president of Karachi bar Mahmoodul Hasan on Saturday announced that the legal fraternity of the city would boycott the courts on Monday in protest against the Pakistan Bar Council's move to cancel the practice licence of Latif Afridi, a senior lawyer and president of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association.