KARACHI: The mastermind of the PIDC bomb blast in 2005 that had claimed four lives and left 20 others wounded was condemned to death by an anti-terrorism court.
The judge of the ATC-II also sentenced Abdul Hameed Bugti to life term for possessing and using explosive materials, seven years for attempting to murder and 14 years for causing damage to the building of the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation.
Bugti, arrested on June 29, 2007 in Garden, was also fined Rs1.8 million with directions to pay Rs200,000 each to be paid to the legal heirs of the deceased and Rs50,000 each to the wounded. His entire moveable and immoveable properties were also ordered to be seized.
On May 31, 2007, another ATC had sentenced two brothers — Mangla Khan and Aziz Khan — to death in the case. They were arrested the next day of the blast.
The grandson of the late Nawab Akbar Bugti, Brahamdakh, and nephew of the slain Baloch leader, Abdul Majeed Bugti, were declared proclaimed offenders in the case. The judge ordered the case against them be kept in “dormant files” till their arrest.
Four security guards were killed and 21 others wounded when a powerful car bomb exploded at around 8.45am in front of the PIDC House, a multi-storey building also housing offices of the Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL).The accused, who were arrested in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on a tip-off, allegedly carried out the bomb blast on the instruction of Akbar Bugti to punish the PPL for “not recruiting the local youth of Balochistan”.
The explosion caused extensive damage to a fast-food outlet, bank branches on the ground floor and offices on upper floors of the building. At least 25 vehicles were destroyed and eight others were damaged. Windowpanes of the adjoining buildings, including a five-star hotel and Dawood Centre, were shattered.
The bomb contained improvised explosives and the blast made a crater one-and-a-half-foot deep and four feet in diameter. The car in which the bomb was planted was stolen on Sept 28, 2005 in Khairpur.
Two security guards, Sabz Ali and Iftikhar Ahmad, on duty at an MCB branch, were killed on the spot. Two other security guards, Jawed Iqbal and Noor Rehman, who were posted at the PIDC House and KFC, died later in hospital.
Lashari murder case
The judge in charge of the ATC-3 on Tuesday warned the investigation officer of the Suleman Lashari murder case of sending him to jail in case he failed to submit a charge-sheet within three days.
Judge Anand Ram Seerani expressed extreme displeasure and dissatisfaction over the lethargic attitude of the prosecution agency as the IO did not pay any heed to the court’s earlier strict direction for filing the charge-sheet without fail till June 10.
The judge ordered IO Inspector Muhammad Mobin to file the charge-sheet in three days or else he would be sent to jail.
According to the police, Salman Abro along with the police guards of is father (who is a superintendent of police) has been booked for allegedly killing his 18-year-old classmate, Suleman Lashari, and wounding his private guard after breaking into his house on the night of May 8 in Defence Housing Authority.
The main suspect also sustained wounds and one of the five police guards was killed in an exchange of fire.
Meanwhile, the judge further extended the judicial remand of the key suspect Abro and four police constables —Imran Ali, Yasin Jamali, Rashid and Maqbool — till June 13 with directions to the IO to submit the charge-sheet without fail till the next hearing.
At the outset of the proceedings, the defence counsel informed the court that the IO was deliberately delaying the filing of the charge-sheet in the case.
He requested the court to not grant any more time to the IO for submitting the charge-sheet and take action against him for his negligence.
The IO submitted that he could not submit the charge-sheet as it was sent to the high-ups for their approval.
He requested the court for three-day time for filing the charge-sheet.
District Public Prosecutor Abdul Maroof submitted that the charge-sheet could be submitted in court in 30 days and the time may be extended up to 90 days under the anti-terrorism law.
A case was registered under Sections 302 (premeditated murder), 324 (attempted murder), 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupee) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, on a complaint of a brother of the deceased at the Darakhshan police station.
Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2014
