KARACHI, March 3: The administrative judge of anti-terrorism courts, Khawaja Naveed Ahmed, sent a bank robbery and killing case against Qasim Toori and others to the ATC-V for trial on Monday.
Earlier, the final charge-sheet against the accused was submitted to the administrative judge by Investigation Officer Mohamamd Ali Rind.
According to the charge-sheet, Qasim Toori alias Hamza, Danish alias Talha and Abid Ali along with their associates are facing charges of looting Rs5.03 million from Bank Al-Habib and killing three persons, a policeman, a security guard and a passerby, during the robbery on Oct 30, 2007 in Saudabad police limits. The investigator claimed in the charge-sheet that the witnesses had also identified the accused during the identification parade.
Obaid, Azad Khan, Iqbal, Ishaque, Mehmood, Badshah Khan, Shakir, Yaqoob and deceased Junaid Farooqui, Abdullah and Taiabdad were declared absconders in the case.
The case (FIR No 223/2007) against the accused was registered under Sections 320, 324, 396, 397, 34, 35 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of ATA at Saudabad police station.
The accused stated to be associated with Jundullah, a banned militant outfit, were arrested on January 29, 2008 in a shootout with the police that continued for hours in Shah Latif Town and Landhi areas. Two policemen and four suspects were killed in the encounter.
Judgment deferred
Judge Ahmed Nawaz Shaikh of ATC-III, meanwhile, deferred the judgment in the US consulate bombing case till March 5.
Anwarul Haq and Usman Ghani, the alleged militants of Al Qaeda, were charged with masterminding a suicide attack outside the American consulate in Karachi on March 2, 2006 that left four people, including a US diplomat David Fyfe, killed and 54 others injured.
Remand extended
Judicial Magistrate, South, Ashraf Hussain Khawaja extended the physical remand of three accused, stated to the members of a banned militant outfit, in the murder case of the former chairman of Christian and Catholic Community till March 10.
Accused Asif alias Pasha, Mohammad Atif and Zubairuddin alias Sharjeel, who were stated to be the members of Tehreek-i-Islami Lashkar-i-Muhammadi, were arrested by the CID police on Feb 26 after a raid at their hideout in Akhtar Colony.
According to the prosecution, they used poison to kill the former chairman of Christian and Catholic Community, Aven Adven, in Preedy police limits. During interrogation, they also disclosed their involvement in the killing of seven workers of a Christian charity in their Rimpa Plaza office on September 25, 2002.
The case (FIR 87/2002) was registered against the accused on the complaint of one of the relatives of the deceased Aven Adven under Section 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code at Preedy police station.
Mufti Ateeq case
An anti-terrorism court on Monday recorded the statement of the accused in the double murder case of Mufti Ateeq-ur-Rehman and his brother Irshad.
Judge Haq Nawaz Baloch of ATC-V, who is conducting the trial inside the central prison, recorded the statement of accused Hammad Raza Naqvi. He said that he was innocent and falsely implicated in the case. The CID police, he said, had booked him from his house on March 3, 2007 but showed his arrest in an encounter the next day. He also said that the eyewitnesses produced in court by the police were forged and students of a madressah.
The court adjourned the hearing and fixed March 8 for final arguments.
On February 26, the investigation officer testified that he had recorded the statements of all the prosecutions witnesses, including two eyewitnesses Waji and Sajid Hussain, after the incident.
However, the defence counsel while cross examining the investigator argued that the names of the eyewitnesses were included in the list of prosecution witnesses after the arrest of the accused.
Mufti Ateeq-ur-Rehman and his brother Irshad were killed on June 23, 2005. An FIR (No 315/05) was later registered at the Preedy police station under Sections 302, 324 and 427/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code against Hammad Raza and absconding co-accused Syed Mohammad Askari.
The court had indicted the accused in the case on September 12, 2007. He pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case.So far, the court has examined around 13 prosecution witnesses, including two eyewitnesses and an MLO of the Civil Hospital Karachi. The MLO had conducted the autopsy of Mufti Ateeq’s body. He confirmed that both persons had died due to bullet wounds. Judicial Magistrate Sara Junejo, who had conducted the identification parade of the accused, also recorded his statements before the trail court.
The court has fixed March 8 for hearing the final arguments.
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