AJ JURAT KA MUZHAIRA KARAIN IS CAISE KO BHE RE OPEN KARDAIN DAWN NEWS KARACHI, May 29 The failure of the police to trace any of the prosecution witnesses in the Justice Nizam murder case forced the prosecution on Saturday to close its side without examining any witness. On the previous hearing, the court had arraigned accused Babar Sindhu for the double murder of retired Justice Nizam Ahmed of the Sindh High Court and his son Advocate Nadeem Ahmed in 1996. The accused pleaded not guilty and the court had summoned all the 26 prosecution witnesses to record their evidence. When the case came up for hearing before District and Sessions Judge (central) Sofia Latif on Saturday, the process server, ASI Raja Masood of the Ferozabad police station, informed the court that the brother-in-law of deceased Justice Nizam, who is the complainant of the case, was living in the United States while five of the prosecution witnesses had died. The whereabouts of the remaining prosecution witnesses were unknown, he added. Special Public Prosecutor Naimat Ali Randhawa told the court that in the light of the report of the process server the prosecution decided to close its side. The court adjourned the hearing till July 5 for the statement of the accused. According to the prosecution, Justice Nizam and his son were shot dead in an attack in front of their PECHS residence on June 10, 1996. The killings were attributed to a dispute over a prized plot near Awami Markaz as Justice Nizam Ahmed had opposed its commercialisation and illegal allotment, it added. A case was registered under Section 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intentions) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of retired Group Captain Sikandar, the brother-in-law of Justice Nizam, at the Ferozabad police station. President Asif Ali Zardari, Akhtar Javed Pirzada, Bilal Shaikh and Babar Sindhu were nominated as accused in the case. However, a court had already exonerated Mr Zardari and Bilal Shaikh from all charges while accused Pirzada was an absconding accused in the case. Policemen testify in traders killing case An anti-terrorism court on Saturday recorded the testimonies of two witnesses in a case pertaining to the murder of four traders of Balochistan in a `staged` police encounter. Five policemen — Malik Irshad, Zafar Iqbal, Zahoor, Zaheer and Noor Mohammad — have been charged with killing the four traders on Dec 31, 2008 within the remit of the Ferozabad police station in an alleged shootout. The first witness, then SHO of the Ferozabad police station Aurangzab Khattak, deposed that he had visited the place of the incident and then went to the hospital where the bodies and wounded were shifted. He said he had deputed a police officer at the hospital and directed him to complete all legal formalities. He said that when he came back to the police station a statement of Malik Irshad under Section 154 of the criminal procedure code was brought there and in the light of his statement three cases (FIR Nos 1351/08, 1352/08 &1353/08) were registered against the traders under Sections 353, 324 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code and 13-D of the Arms Ordinance. The witness deposed that his superiors ordered an inquiry into the matter since the people took to the streets and held protest demonstrations against the killing of the traders. In the light of the inquiry report, a case (FIR 24/09) was registered under Section 319 (manslaughter) of the Pakistan Penal Code against the police officials, he added. He concluded that acting on the order of the Supreme Court another FIR (32/09) was lodged under Section 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the PPC against the five policemen belonging to the Anti-Car Lifting Cell, on the complaint of the father of one of the four victims on Jan 9, 2009. The second witness, Inspector Naseeruddin Shah, testified that on Jan 10 the investigation of the case (FIR 32/09) was assigned to him and he inspected the place of the incident, collected evidence and prepared memos. He said that he also called the investigation officers of the three cases registered through FIRs 1351/08, 1352/08 &1353/08 and collected all documentary evidence from them. He stated that he arrested an accused, Zafar Iqbal, and on Jan 16 the investigation of the case was transferred to Inspector Sajjad. After the completion of their statements, Judge Anand Ram Hotwani of the ATC-III adjourned the hearing till June 9 for further evidence. According to the prosecution, an ACLC team had allegedly killed four traders — Haji Mohammad Tahir Achakzai, Obaidullah Khan Tareen, Mohammad Ibrahim Achakzai, and Zainuddin Khan Achakzai — a little after midnight on Dec 31, 2008 on Khalid bin Walid Road within the remit of the Ferozabad police station.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Oct 2013 20:40:25 +0000
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