Prosecutor appointed in KPO attack case

KARACHI: The prosecution department has appointed a prosecutor in the high-profile Karachi Police Office (KPO) attack case.

Two suspects, Abdul Aziz and Mehran Ahmed, have been charged with facilitating the February 17, 2023, terrorist attack on the police office that killed four people, including Rangers Inspector Taimor Shehzad and police constables Muhammad and Ghulam Abbas, and injured 18 others, most of whom were security personnel.

As the case came up before the ATC-XIII judge, who is conducting the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, the two detained suspects were produced from the prison. The investigation officer told the court that no notification about the appointment of a special public prosecutor in the present case has been issued yet.

However, an assistant prosecutor general (APG), Najma Latif, turned up in the court stating that she would proceed with the case. She also moved an application, requesting the judge to summon Inspector Ghulam Mustafa, in-charge of the bomb disposal unit, who had defused hand grenades but mistakenly his name was not mentioned in the challan/charge sheet as a witness.

The judge issued a notice to the defence lawyers to submit a response to the application and directed the investigating officer to produce more witnesses on the next date.