KARACHI, Jan 6: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday recorded the statement of a judicial magistrate in a kidnapping for ransom case.
Khan Afsar has been charged with kidnapping Irfan in October 2007 in the Boat Basin area for ransom.
The Xth judicial magistrate (south), Asif Ahmed, testified that he conducted the identification parade of the accused in his court after completing all legal formalities and the victim and his father, Ahmed Khan, had identified the accused during the parade. The judge, Anand Ram Hotwani, of ATC-III adjourned the hearing till January 16.
The prosecution said that the accused had kidnapped Irfan, then 20 years old, in the limits of the Boat Basin police station for a ransom of Rs400,000.
Three days later the accused freed the victim after getting the ransom.
An Anti-Violent Crime Cell team arrested the accused on Feb 24, 2008.
The investigation officer, Tahir Naseer, said in the charge-sheet that the accused ran a welding workshop in Saddar and knew the victim’s father since the latter was a transporter, adding that the accused was also aware of the financial conditions of Mr Khan and kidnapped his son for ransom.
A case (FIR no.425/07) was registered under Section 365-A of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act at the Boat Basin police station on the complaint of the victim’s father.
Absconders’ warrants out in forex scam
The court of the district and sessions judge (south) issued on Tuesday non-bailable arrest warrants for three absconders in a forex scam case.
The Federal Investigation Agency arrested Mehboob Rehmatullah Moti, the director and partner of the Al-Sahara Exchange Company, on December 17 on charges of illegally sending billion of rupees abroad.
His wife, Tahira, son, Abdul Murjeer Moti, and a director of the company, Khubab, son of Mohammad Iqbal, were shown absconders in the interim charge-sheet submitted on January 3. However, the charge-sheet was accepted and the case was fixed for hearing on Jan 19.
According to the prosecution, a case was registered against the suspect after initiating an inquiry on a complaint (No.108/2008) lodged by the State Bank of Pakistan regarding an illegal transfer of money abroad.
It said that besides the authorised exchange business, the firm indulged in the illegal transfer of billion of rupees abroad with the connivance of different banks, exchange companies, moneychangers, businessmen and private parties.
It said that the investigators had seized six servers and two desktop computers of the company, containing data of such unauthorised transactions.
A case (83/2008) was registered against the suspect under Sections 5, 8, 22 and 23 of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 read with 7, 8 and 20 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Ordinance, 2007 and 409, 420, 467, 471, 477-A/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code at the FIA crime circle branch, Karachi.
Seventeen prosecution witnesses were placed in the charge-sheet.
Judge grieved
Meanwhile, the mother of Syed Hasan Shah Bukhari, the judge of Anti-Terrorism Court-I, Karachi, passed away after a brief illness on Monday in Tando Adam Khan. She was 95.