KARACHI, Jan 19: An anti-terrorism court indicted on Thursday three accused in the murder and kidnapping for ransom case of a young man, whose body was recovered in Hyderabad.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-3 ordered the prosecution to examine witnesses on Jan 23 after Abdul Asif, Mohammed Atif and Rizwan Khan denied the charged and pleaded “not guilty”.
The accused, all of them in their early 20s, were charged with the kidnapping and murder of 21-year-old Muneebul Haq, a resident of Gulshan-i-Maimar.
According to prosecution, Atif, a friend of the victim, kidnapped Muneeb with the help of his accomplices and took him to Hyderabad.
The kidnappers contacted the victim’s father, Qazi Mashhudul Haq, a bank manager, from victim’s cellular phone and initially demanded Rs1 million for his release. The next day, kidnappers took the young victim to a graveyard in Hyderabad and slaughtered him.
Asif, however, kept on calling the victim’s father and agreed to accept Rs200,000 as ransom. However, the kidnappers did not turn up to receive the money at the designated place.
The family, which had initially reported the incident on Oct 12 with the Surjani police, learnt about Muneeb’s murder in Hyderabad through newspapers on Oct 17. Later on Oct 23, the shattered family reported the kidnapping matter to the police and got an FIR lodged against unknown culprits.
The investigation was assigned to Sub-inspector Tahir Naseer of the Anti-violent Crime Cell, who tracked down Asif with the help of record of the victim’s phone. Asif was arrested on Oct 25 in the morning and his two alleged accomplices were arrested in the evening in Hyderabad on a lead given by him.
CONVICTED: The additional district and sessions judge, West, convicted three accused in a kidnapping for ransom case.
The judge sentenced accused Jahangir Khan and Mohammed Haroon to suffer rigorous imprisonment for 14 years and co-accused Mohammed Arif to a 10-year term. The judge, however, acquitted Mohammed Shahid and Arshad Khan while giving them benefit of doubt.
The accused were prosecuted for kidnapping Noor Hashim and Saeed Hussain for ransom on Sept 18, 1996, in Orangi.
According to the prosecution, the kidnappers tortured the two victims and later released Noor Hashim asking him to bring Rs10,000 for the release of Saeed Hussain.