KARACHI, Dec 1: An anti-terrorism court recorded on Wednesday the statement of the first prosecution witness in the Masjid Ali Raza bomb blast case against a worker of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of the ATC-5 fixed Thursday for the next hearing after the statement of complainant Syed Zahoor Abbas, the caretaker of the mosque, who was also cross-examined by defence counsel Mushtaq Ahmed.
As many as 25 faithful were killed and 37 others injured on May 31 this year when a suicide bomber blew himself inside the Masjid Ali Raza, located near the Old Numaish. Accused Gul Hasan, arrested on June 13, is stated to have been the mastermind of bomb blasts at Haideri Mosque and Imambargah Ali Raza. He is alleged to have planned the attacks with absconding accused that included Asif Chuto and Mufti Obaid.
The complainant stated that he was at his Federal B. Area residence when he was informed of the incident on phone. He said he immediately rushed to the spot where bodies and the injured were being shifted to hospitals. He said he collected the details of the blast victims from different hospitals and then lodged an FIR with the Brigade police.
BLAST CASE: An Anti-Terrorism Court in Karachi on Wednesday remanded an activist of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen Al Alami to police custody till Dec 8. The accused was earlier declared an absconding co-accused in the US consulate bomb blast case, add agencies.
Naveedul Hasan was arrested by CID police from Lahore and he was brought back to Karachi. He was produced before the ATC amid tight security on Thursday. "The absconding co-accused was produced before ATC headed by Judge Aley Maqbool Rizvi for obtaining remand in US consulate bomb blast case and the court gave him on physical remand till Dec 8," Special Public Prosecutor Abdul Waheed Khan said.
GIVEN IN CUSTODY: Judge Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC-I) for Karachi division Syed Aley Maqbool Rizvi on Wednesday remanded an accused Naveed-ul-Hasan to custody of investigation police till Dec 8.
The accused was allegedly involved in a conspiracy to kill President General Pervez Musharraf in Karachi in June 2002 and suicide bombing at US Consulate here. The accused was arrested from Lahore by a raiding party of the CID police.