ATC dismisses cop’s bail plea in kidnapping for ransom case

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has dismissed an application of a Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) inspector seeking post-arrest bail in a kidnapping for ransom case.

Inspector Shoaib Qureshi was booked along with Constable Sardar Rauf, driver Muhammad Khaleeq and informer Kashif Ali for alleged involvement in kidnapping two citizens for ransom within the jurisdiction of the Bilal Colony police station in June last year.

The accused moved an application before the ATC-XII judge through his lawyer seeking his release on bail. Pronouncing his verdict after hearing the arguments, the judge dismissed the bail plea of the cop.

The defence lawyer contended that his client was falsely implicated in the case, adding that the FIR of the alleged crime was lodged after a delay. He claimed that there were contradictions in the statements of the two victims.

On the other hand, the complainant's lawyer, Mushtaq Ahmed, contended that there was sufficient evidence on record to connect the accused with the commission of the alleged offence. He said the two abducted persons in their statements under the Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) fully implicated the accused, requesting the judge to dismiss the bail plea.

According to the prosecution, Qureshi along with his accomplices allegedly abducted two citizens — Saad Shafiq and his builder friend Faizan — on June 5, 2022, who were later released after the payment of ransom.

An FIR was lodged at the Bilal Colony police station under the sections 365-A (kidnapping for extorting property, valuable security, etc), 384 (punishment for extortion), 385 (putting person in fear of injury in order to commit extortion) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of Shafiq who stated in the FIR that he and his friend were abducted by Qureshi and his accomplices on June 5 and released them after receiving the ransom.