KARACHI, March 8: An anti-terrorism court indicted on Monday a female constable for kidnapping her grand-daughter for ransom. The 50-year-old woman, who was arrested on the complaint of her daughter , denied the charge and pleaded "not guilty" when Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC arraigned her.
Yasmin Tahira was charged with the kidnapping of her grand-daughter, Nisma, 8, for ransom. The complaint was registered by Nisma's mother, Bushra. Tahira allegedly kidnapped the girl on Oct 28, 2003 and kept her at different places until she was caught red-handed on Nov 14 at Moro while taking her grand-daughter to Bahawalpur.
According to the complainant, she lodged a report of her missing daughter with Kalri police and advertise the missing of her daughter in the press. The accused woman allegedly told her daughter that she was in contact with the kidnappers, who were demanding Rs150,000 for Nisma's release. The accused was caught red-handed at Moro.
The judge fixed March 11 for the next hearing and ordered special public prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum to produce prosecution witnesses.
CAMP FIRING CASE: An anti-terrorism court was told on Monday that the accused in the police camp firing case was not a psychotic but a malingerer.
Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the ATC-III put off the hearing till March 9 after the deposition of Prof Illahi Bukhsh Soomro of Civil Hospital, who headed a medical board to ascertain the mental health of accused Zulfiqar Ali.
Dr Mohammed Jamil, a jail psychiatrist, and his predecessor, Dr Mohammed Ishaq Sirhandi, also recorded their statements. They submitted before the court that the accused was not a psychopath, but was only pretending to be so.
The accused was charged with the killing of two police officials at a police camp next to the US Consulate. He is being represented by Raza Ali Abidi. According to prosecution, Zulfiqar Ali snatched the rifle of a policeman after wounding him at the Frere Hall.
He went towards the police camp and opened fire. Sub-inspectors Ameer Badshah and Murtaza were killed on the spot while three policemen, a Rangers personnel and a teenager were injured.