KARACHI, Aug 13: The prosecution in the Macedonian Consulate bomb blast case against nine workers of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen Al-Aalmi concluded on Friday its arguments after recording statements of the last two prosecution witnesses.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5, who is conducting the trial inside the Central Prison, fixed Aug 16 for the next hearing after statements by Mohammed Nasim and SI Hameed Khan, the investigation officer.
The accused were charged with committing a bomb blast after stabbing two men and a woman to death on Dec 5, 2002, at the honorary consulate of Macedonia situated in Phase IV of the Defence Housing Authority.
The accused are Syed Sohail Akhtar alias Mustafa, Zafar Iqbal alias Sohail, Naeem Rafi alias Nimmi, Mohammed Atif, Sameerullah alias Somi, Mohammed Khalid alias Shahzad, Abdur Razzaq alias Bhayya, Syed Ahmed Kazmi alias Shahbaz and Mehmoodullah.
According to the prosecution, the accused entered the consulate building late in the night and stabbed Hameed Hactor Masih, Mohammed Asif and Ghazala Perveen to death. They planted an explosive device which they detonated with a remote control after leaving the consulate.
The intruders also took away a computer and printer from the spot. They were charged with the offences under Section 302, 395 and 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code, Sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Act and Section 7 (b) of the Anti-terrorism Act. The two prosecution witnesses were also cross examined by the defence counsel, M. R. Syed. The state is being represented by special public prosecutor Mazhar Qayyum.
KIDNAPPING-CUM-MURDER: Judge Arshad Noor Khan of the ATC-3 adjourned till Aug 16 the hearing of a kidnapping-cum-murder case after recording the statement of a prosecution witness.
Shafqat Hussain has been charged with the kidnapping a seven-year-old boy for ransom and later killing him. The victim's father, Mohammed Hanif, who is also a complainant in the case, appeared as the first prosecution witness.
The accused was the watchman of Nadeem Arcade and he allegedly kidnapped Umair on April 10 at around 5:30pm as he came downstairs from his second-floor flat. According to the prosecution, the watchman took the boy to his room. He hit the victim in the head with a club when the boy insisted on leaving the room. The boy died instantly and the watchman dumped the body in the room.
The accused contacted the family on the phone and demanded Rs500,000 from the victim's father, a car dealer, for Omair's "release". The next night he disposed of the body in a nearby drain.