KARACHI, June 15: Prosecution in a double murder case against two workers of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi closed its side on Tuesday with the statements of its last two witnesses in an anti- terrorism court.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-2, who is conducting the trial inside the Central Prison, put off the hearing till June 19 after the deposition of SI Minhajul Hasan and Inspector Abdul Ghaffar Jummani.
The case pertained to the murder of a pesh imam of an imambargah and his son on Sept 12, 2001. Two LJ activists - Ataullah and Mohammed Azam - have been charged with the sectarian killings.
Syed Razi Haider Najafi and his 15-year-old son Syed Abbas Ali were killed and his youngest son Syed Mohammed Ali was wounded around 7:45am on Sept 12, 2001 when the accused came on a motorcycle and opened fire on their car in Gizri.
Special public prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum examined in all 15 prosecution witnesses, including two eye-witnesses. The two accused are being represented by M.R. Syed. The judge would record statement of the accused on the next hearing.
MURDER CASE: Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5 put off the hearing of a sectarian murder case against Ataullah and Mohammed Azam of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi after recording the statement of a prosecution witness.
The two activists have been charged with the killing of Dr Raza Peerani on June 26, 2001 in Soldier Bazaar. After leaving his clinic, the doctor was getting into his car when the accused on a motorcycle shot at him.
The judge recorded the statement of judicial magistrate Shaista Hameed, who had conducted the identification parade of the two accused. She was also cross-examined by M.R. Syed.
In all, four prosecution witnesses have been examined so far by the prosecutor, Mazhar Qayyum. Three prosecution witnesses - SI Qamar Zaman, HC Mohammed Ashraf and Zulfiqar Shaikh - were examined on Monday.
BLAST CASES: Judge Feroz Mehmood Bhatti of ATC-2 put off the hearing of nine different cases against seven workers of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Aalmi till June 21.
The judge, who also declared four other Harkat activists absconders, fixed the next hearing for formal indictment of arrested accused. Seven cases pertained to the blasts at different petrol pumps on May 15, 2003 within the police precincts of Frere (FIR No. 87/2003), Garden (55/2003), Soldier Bazaar (91/2003), Gulshan-i- Iqbal (245/2003), PIB Colony (100/2003), New Town (75/2003) and Artillery Maidan (72/2003).
Naeem Rufi, Syed Ahmer Kazmi, Mohammed Khalid, Abdur Razzaq, Samiullah and Mehmoodullah were arrested in these cases. Another activist, Israr Ahmed, was declared absconder in the cases registered by Garden and Artillery Maidan police stations.
The two other cases pertained to bomb blasts in Preedy and Baghdadi police limits. Naeem Rufi is accused in Preedy blast that occurred on March 31, 1998 and Zafar Iqbal has been charged with the blast of a fire-cracker on the roof of the Baghdadi police station on Nov 1, 2001.
The judge declared Abdul Ghani, Abdul Majid and Hafiz as absconders in the fire-cracker case. Meanwhile, defence counsel M.R. Syed filed power of attorney for accused Naeem Rufi, Syed Ahmer Kazmi, Mohammed Khalid and Zafar Iqbal. Nadeem Shahzad Hashmi advocate appeared for Abdur Razzaq, Samiullah and Mehmoodullah.
STATEMENT RECORDED: Judge Arshad Noor Khan of an anti-terrorism court, on Tuesday, adjourned the hearing of kidnapping for ransom case against two accused after deposition of investigation officer, adds PPI.
Two brothers Shahid and Zahid are being tried on charges of kidnapping for ransom Amir Haroon from Site. Investigation officer Atiqur Rehman of anti-violent crime cell, who produced the accused before magistrate after their arrest for identification purpose, recorded his statement on Tuesday.
The court after deposition of investigation officer fixed June 16 for statements of the accused. According to the prosecution, the accused kidnapped a factory manager Amir Haroon on March 22 and demanded Rs1,000,000 from detainee's family as ransom.
The accused were arrested red handed outside a bank near Shaheen Complex, where they went to withdraw a cheque of Rs980,000 which was obtained from abducted's family. Special Public Prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa is representing the state.