KARACHI, June 2: An anti-terrorism court reserved order on Monday on an application seeking shifting of a case, pertaining to plot to kill President Pervez Musharraf to an ordinary court.
Judge Aley Maqbool Rizvi of the ATC-1, who is conducting the trial inside the Central Prison, fixed Tuesday for pronouncement of his orders on an application filed by Abdul Waheed Katpar, who sought the transfer of the case from ATC to sessions court.
Chief of Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Aalmi Mohammed Imran, his deputy Mohammed Hanif, finance secretary Mohammed Ashraf, and workers Waseem Akhtar and Sharib, have been charged with hatching a conspiracy to blow up the president’s motorcade.
Accused Imran, Hanif and Waseem Akhtar, a rangers inspector, allegedly disclosed to have made an abortive attempt on the life of the president in last April.
According to the prosecution, the Aalmi leaders, during interrogation, revealed that they wanted to kill President Musharraf for his anti-Taliban and pro-US policies.
The Aalmi chief, his deputy were earlier on April 14 sentenced to death and two other party workers, including Sharib, to life terms by the same ATC for killing 12 people and injuring 43 others in a car bomb attack on the US consulate last year.
FRENCHMEN KILLING CASE: An anti-terrorism court recorded on Monday the statement of the last prosecution witness in the Frenchmen killing case against two workers of a banned religious outfit.
Judge Feroze Mahmood Bhatti of the ATC-2, who is conducting the trial inside the Central Prison, reserved the cross- examination of Inspector Mohammed Tariq, the investigation officer who appeared as last of the 41 witnesses.
The IO could not be cross-examined by the defence counsel as the court rose for the day, fixing June 4 for the next hearing.
Mohammed Asif Zaheer and Rizwanullah, who were allegedly trained in a camp belonging to the Harkat Jehad-i-Islami in Afghanistan, are facing charges of killing 11 French naval engineers and two Pakistanis in a suicide bomb attack last year.
The French engineers, who were helping Pakistan build its Agosta 90-B submarine, were killed when an explosive-laden vehicle hit their bus outside the Sheraton hotel.
The victims included Leclerc Jean Yves, Bled Cedric, Groux Pascal, Le Carpentier Daniel, Chevassut Jean Michael, Leconte Pascal, Drouet Claude, Dupont Bernard. A Pakistani woman was also among the dead.
JUDGMENT RESERVED: An anti-terrorism court reserved its judgment in a rocket blast case registered against a worker of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP).
Judge Feroze Mahmood Bhatti, who conducted the trial inside the Central Prison, fixed June 7 for the pronouncement of the verdict after hearing final arguments by defence counsel Amir Mansoob Qureshi and special public prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum.
Sabir Waseem, a worker of the banned religious group, was prosecuted for launching an anti-tank rocket (BM-107) that had pierced through the wall of Commerce College, on the Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road, on November 23, 2001.
According to the prosecution, Waseem along with his absconding accomplice, Asif Ramzi, had reached near the college to fire the rocket to target Americans staying at the second and third floor of Sheraton Hotel.
Carrying the rocket and its locally-made launcher in a kit bag, the two accused allegedly drove near the hotel on a motorbike at around 9.30pm. They positioned the launcher on the pushcart of a junk vendor. While Waseem was still trying to position the launcher to target the hotel, the rocket went off due to short circuit and hit the wall of the Commerce College. It landed in a classroom after making an 8-inch hole in the wall.
The public prosecutor said that the prosecution had proved the charges against the accused.
He referred to the deposition of two prosecution witnesses, Mohammed Ashraf and Mohammed Afzal, and contended that they had seen the accused on the spot.
The two witnesses deposed that they were loaders on a truck and had come to load paper waste from a junkyard, close to the Commerce College. They said they left the junkyard for dinner and on their way they found the accused standing beside a pushcart.
The witnesses deposed that they were washing their hands at the hotel when they heard a big bang. They also saw smoke above and around the pushcart. They claimed to have seen the two accused fleeing the scene on their bike.
The witnesses had also identified accused Waseem in a set of dummies during an identification parade before a judicial magistrate.
According to bomb disposal squad, the device was an anti-tank rocket, weighing 25 kgs with 10 to 12 kgs of explosive material.
The public prosecutor also referred to the confessional statement of the accused before a judicial magistrate.
Waseem was arrested red-handed during a shootout with the police following an attack on a prisoners’ van, which was carrying, among others, Dilawar Hussain, an SSP man, and some alleged activists of other sectarian groups.
Two persons, one of them a constable, Shakil, were killed when the prisoners’ van was ambushed on February 28 this year near Bohra Pir within the limits of Nabi Bux police.
Ramzi and two others, Ataur Rahman and Naeem Bukhari, were declared absconders in this case.
During the interrogation, the police found the lower part of Waseem’s body severely burnt. He disclosed before the police that he himself was injured while firing the rocket.
The defence counsel argued that there was no material evidence against his client. He contended that the case of the prosecution was full of contradiction and that his client was entitled to be acquitted.