RAWALPINDI, March 1: An anti-terrorism court acquitted on Tuesday a man of his involvement in the killing of outlawed Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan leader Maulana Azam Tariq in October 2003.

ATC-II Special Judge Raja Ikhlaq Hussain gave Hammad Raza Naqvi the benefit of doubt saying the prosecution has failed to prove the case. Naqvi was accused of firing on the Maulana at a toll plaza in the Golra area.

He was arrested in Karachi and was brought to Islamabad in February last year.

The court had on March 20 last year acquitted two other men, Muhammad Ali and Mudassir Ali, and in 2006 Shia leader Sajid Naqvi and another man in the case.

Advocate Ilyas Siddiqui who represented Hammad Naqvi said that during an identification parade witnesses had identified his client as one of the assailants, but actually there were no witnesses to the incident.

The defence lawyer further said that the witnesses, who happened to be close relatives of the deceased, were there why they had failed to identify the body of Azam Tariq in the hospital.