KARACHI, Oct 29: Five absconding accused in the murder case of Allama Hasan Turabi, the provincial chief of the Tehrik-i-Islami, were declared on Saturday proclaimed offenders by an anti-terrorism court.

Judge Feroze Mehmood Bhatti of the ATC-2 issued orders to this effect after investigation officer Inspector Chaudhry Mansoor told the court that there was no likelihood for the arrest of absconders Mufti Ilyas, Hazrat Ali, Khalid, Ali Hasan and Sohail Ahmed Siddiqui.

The judge fixed Nov 2 for the next hearing and he directed the five arrested accused to engage defence counsel so that the court would proceed with the case.

The investigation officer submitted in the court that the absconders hailed from parts of the NWFP and he made efforts to track them down. He, however, said that the absconding accused had gone into hiding to avoid arrest as they were not available in their respective homes.

The arrested accused are: Mohammed Ameen alias Khalid Shaheen alias Abdullah, Sultan Mehmood alias Saifullah alias Muslim, Mohammed Rehman alias Mani, Mohammed Ashfaq Qureshi and Akbar Khan. Mufti Ilyas, Hazrat Ali, Khalid, Ali Hasan and Sohail Ahmed Siddiqui were shown absconders in the final charge-sheet.

Allama Turabi, who was also the Sindh vice-president of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, and his young nephew were killed on July 14 when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the religious leader’s Gulshan-i-Iqbal house.

The severed head of the clean-shaven suicide bomber, later identified as Abdul Karim Bengali, was also found lying close to the slain leader’s house.

The attacker called Allama Turabi as he entered the gate. Just as the religious scholar stopped, the suicide bomber, tearing off his robe, lurched forward and detonated the explosives strapped to his body. The bomber was believed to have worn a jacket containing explosives weighing around two and a half kilos. The explosives contained numerous pellets.

Three policemen Azhar Hussain, Fakhar Hussain and Mohammad Rashid were wounded in the attack.

A woman, Ms Noreen, was also struck by pellets from the explosives as she hung the washing out on her flat’s balcony.

The Shia leader had earlier survived an attempt on his life when an explosive-laden pushcart rammed into his vehicle on Abul Hasan Ispahani Road on April 6. Police said accused planted a remote-controlled bomb in a pushcart to kill Hasan Turbi when he was travelling on Abul Hasan Ispahani Road in the limits of Mubina Town police station but he escaped unhurt in this attempt. However, Murtaza Turabi, son of Hasan Turabi, bodyguard Mashooq and other pedestrian were injured in the blast. He had then blamed the outlawed militant organisation Lashkar-i-Jhangvi for the attack.

Mohammed Ameen, Sultan Mehmood and Mohammed Rehman were arrested by the police on July 25 in Old Muzaffarabad Colony, Quaidabad, on a tip-off. The police also seized a CD which led to the identity of the suicide bomber. Later on Aug 15 the police arrested Mohammed Ashfaq Qureshi and Akbar Khan for masterminding the suicide attack.

The CD contained a blurry video of the bandanna-wearing suicide bomber, with grenades strapped to his body, saying that he was about to embark on a sacred mission. “After accomplishing my mission, I will go to Paradise,” said the gun-wielding suicide bomber of Bangladeshi extraction.