KARACHI, April 18: The administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts, Khawaja Naveed Ahmed, on Friday remanded in judicial custody four accused in a kidnapping for ransom case and directed the investigation officer to submit a charge-sheet till April 25.

According to the prosecution, the accused Shahzad, Danish, Shoaib and Arif had allegedly kidnapped Javed, 5, on March 27 from Baldia Town while the boy was on his way to school. Later, the accused demanded a ransom of Rs100,000 from the boy’s father, Ghulam Hussain. Mr Hussain, instead of making the payment, contacted the area police and then investigation started.

One of the accused, Shahzad, a cousin of the kidnapped child, had also attempted to kill the boy by throwing him off the Clifton bridge fearing that they had been identified by the boy.

The prosecution said that the boy survived the fall and a passer-by took him to the JPMC, where he was provided necessary medical attention for three days. Upon regaining consciousness, the boy informed his family about the involvement of his cousin.

Later, teams of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) and the Anti-Violent Crime Unit (AVCU) raided the hideouts of the kidnappers and arrested them on April 3. A case was registered at the Baldia Town police station.

Extortion case

The same court sent two cases to the anti-terrorism courts for trial after the submission of charge-sheets.

In the first case pertaining to extortion, the prosecution said that Mohammad Akbar Shaikh and his wife, Sitara, posing as lawyers tried to extort money from the residents of Rose Garden apartment.

The police had registered a case under Section 387 of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the apartments’ residents at the Soldier Bazar police station. The case has been transferred to the ATC-I.

Kidnap case

The second case pertained to the kidnapping of six-year-old Mohammad Raza, son of Mohammad Murtaza.

According to the prosecution, Raza was kidnapped by Rabnawaz on March 11, 2008 from the limits of Surjani Town police station. The kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs0.2 million. The accused, however, released the boy without taking a ransom.

The police had registered a case against the accused under Section 365-A of the PPC on the complaint of the boy’s father. The case has been sent to the ATC-III for trial. The co-accused in the case, Faisal, has been declared absconder.

MQM-H chief’s plea

An anti-terrorism appellate bench of the Sindh High Court adjourned the hearing of an appeal filed by the chief of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi, Amir Khan, till April 24 after his counsel M. Ilyas Khan completed his arguments, APP adds.

Pointing out what he described as material defects and contradictions in the statements of the witnesses, the counsel submitted that all the prosecution witnesses were the workers of the rival faction.

He prayed to the court to set aside the impugned conviction and the sentence of the accused including Amir Khan, Tariq Butt, and Kala Nazim.

Later on a query made by the court, the counsel for the co-accused said that they also wanted to make some submission and argue points other than those advanced by the leading counsel, M. Ilyas Khan. The bench put off further hearing till April 24 to be taken up at 12:30pm.

The accused was sentenced to 10 years in jail by an anti-terrorism court for the murder of two activists on the day of by-election to a National Assembly seat from Landhi.

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