KARACHI, Sept 29: An anti-terrorism court on Saturday acquitted the three men accused in the kidnapping for ransom case of Haji Abdul Ghaffar, a poultry dealer who was kidnapped from his Hussainabad shop in the limits of the Azizabad police station on May 7, 2007.

Judge Abdul Ghafoor Memon of ATC-II, who conducted the trial, recorded the final arguments of both the defence and state counsel on September 26.

The defence counsel had maintained that the case was baseless and there were inconsistencies in the case’s police version. Special Public Prosecutor Niamat Ali Randhawa had argued that the depositions of an eyewitness and the kidnap victim were sufficient grounds upon which to award punishment.

The court had recorded the statements of defence witnesses Abdur Rehman, Noman and Mohammed Ishaq Soomro who had said that the accused men were arrested on June 6 while the police had shown the arrest as having been made on June 14.

The court had also recorded the statements of defence witnesses Imran, Shahid and Sarwar on September 22.