KARACHI: Pappu charged with three murders
KARACHI, May 14: The additional district and sessions judge, South, Abdul Naeem Memon, on Wednesday indicted an alleged gangster of Lyari, Arshad Pappu, and his brother, Yasir Arafat, in three cases of murder.
They pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case. The court summoned prosecution witnesses to record their statements on the next hearing.
According to the prosecution, on Mach 26, 2004, Arshad Pappu with his associates had opened fire in a market in the Kalakot police limits, seriously wounding Abdul Basit, Shoaib and Zubair. Later, Basit died. Police registered a case (FIR 51/04) under Sections 302 and 324/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Kalakot police station.
In the second case, he and his accomplices were charged with killing Inam-ul-Haq when he was standing in front of his house in the limits of the Kalakot police station on May 28, 2004. The police registered a case (FIR 131/04) under Section 302/34 of the PPC on the complaint of the victim’s son.
The third case also pertained to a murder and an FIR was registered at the Kalakot police station.
May 28 was fixed as the next date of hearing.
Suspected terrorists’ case
The additional and sessions judge-II, Central, on Wednesday deferred the indictment of five suspected terrorists till May 21 due to their non-production from the Central Prison of Karachi.
He court issued a notice to the jail superintendent, directing him to produce the accused on the next date of hearing.
According to the prosecution, five suspected terrorists, Syed Mohammed Waseem alias Imran, Mohammed Aijaz alias Abdul Rehman, Jamil Ahmed alias Wazir Akbar, Mohammed Hamid alias Qasim and would-be suicide bomber Aziz Ahmed alias Mohammed Khan, were planning to carry out suicide attacks on Ashura processions.
The investigation officer stated in the charge-sheet that on Jan 19, the CID police acting on a tip-off raided a house in North Karachi which was being used by the suspected terrorists as a hideout and to store weapons and explosives. They opened fire when the police party reached the spot and were arrested after a shootout. The CID police seized unlicensed weapons and explosive substance from the suspects, it added.
Six cases (FIR Nos 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10/08) were registered against the accused under Sections 324, 353 and 392 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 13-D of the Arms Ordinance and ¾ of the Explosives Act.
Couple’s murder case
Meanwhile, the additional district and sessions judge, Central, Tasneem Sultana, on Wednesday put off the hearing of a case pertaining to the murder of a newly wed couple’s case till May 21due to the absence of prosecution witnesses.
Earlier, the court had summoned witnesses to record their statements, but they failed to comply with the court’s order. Hafiz Shaikh Mohammad Azeem and his bride Beenish were found dead under mysterious circumstances on the next morning of their wedding night in their North Nazimabad apartment in the limits of Taimuria police on Aug 11.
The investigation officer had nominated the deceased groom’s father, Shaikh Abdul Majeed, as the main suspect in the case.
On Jan 11, the court had indicted Shaikh Abdul Majeed on the charges of killing the couple. The accused pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case.
The case (FIR 391/07) was registered on the complaint of Danish Zaheer, brother of the deceased bride Beenish, at the Taimuria police station under Section 302/34 of the PPC.
Court sources said both parties had reached an out-of-court settlement and were likely to submit a compromise application before the court next week.