KARACHI, Jan 23: An anti-terrorism court adjourned on Thursday the hearing of the US consulate car bombing case against the leaders of the banned Harkatul Mujahideen Aalmi after recording the statements of four prosecution witnesses.

The case against self-styled chief of his own faction of the banned organization, Mohammed Imran, his deputy Mohammed Ashraf, and finance secretary Mohammed Hanif, is being tried on the premises of the Central Prison, Karachi, by Judge Aley Maqbool Rizvi of the ATC-1.

The three accused have been charged with the car bombing near the US consulate that had killed 12 people, including five women, and wounded 43 others.

The Civil Lines police cited as many as 50 prosecution witnesses in the case.

A team of prosecutors, comprising advocate-general Anwer Mansoor Khan, assistant AG Habib Ahmed, and special public prosecutors Maula Bux Bhatti and Abdul Waheed Khan, is representing the state. The AG and his assistant, however, did not appear and the two prosecutors conducted the examination-in-chief of the prosecution witnesses.

The accused are being represented by Abdul Waheed Katpur, Khawaja Naveed and Ali Raza Abidi.

Dr Seemi Jamali, Dr Pritam, Dr Nadim and Dr Mohammed Salim, who had conducted autopsies on the bodies of some of the victims, appeared as prosecution witnesses. These medico-legal officers were cross-examined by the defence counsel.

CASE AGAINST LAHORI: The Anti-terrorism Court No 5, headed by Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch, put off on Thursday the hearing of the Dr Syed Aley Safdar Zaidi murder case against the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Akram Lahori, and two other activists.

The judge fixed Saturday for the next hearing after recording the statement of a prosecution witness.

The PW, head constable Irshad, was also cross-examined by the pauper advocate, Mohammed Ashraf Mughul.

Lahori, Mohammed Azam and Ataullah are being tried for killing Dr Syed Aley Safdar Zaidi of the Kidney Centre on March 4, 2002.

The doctor was on his way to the hospital from his Gizri residence when two motorcyclists opened fire on his car (ABU-495) as he stopped at a signal near Sultan Masjid. He died on the spot.

The Gizri police had registered the case initially against two unknown assailants on the complaint of Syed Razi Haider Zaidi, a cousin of the deceased.

According to the final charge-sheet, the accused during the interrogation confessed to having committed the murder of the doctor as he belonged to the rival sect.