Court seeks record in reporter’s murder attempt case

RAWALPINDI: Additional District and Sessions Judge Khalid Wazir has sought the case record from the police on a petition challenging the decision of Judicial Magistrate Adil Sarwar Sial, who sent three accused in the attempted target killing of a reporter to jail on judicial remand after rejecting the police request for physical remand. The court has also adjourned the hearing on the post-arrest bail application of the accused till November 5.

During the hearing, Advocate Shahid Mahmood Mughal appeared on behalf of the victim journalist and plaintiff in the case, Tahir Naseer. He opposed the decision to send the accused on judicial remand, arguing that the police had arrested the three accused — Akash, Ahmed, and Vishal — along with weapons and a vehicle from near the residence of journalist Tahir Naseer on October 29 while they were allegedly questioning the plaintiff about the case.

According to the initial investigation, the accused confessed that Qasim Owais Sindhu, Sikandar Sindhu, Akhtar Sindhu, and Mohsin Shah had hired them to assassinate the senior journalist and transferred Rs 99,000 to their account as advance payment. On October 30, the police produced the three accused before Judicial Magistrate Adil Sarwar Sial and sought their physical remand, stating that the accused had been arrested with the vehicle and weapons and that the money paid for the murder conspiracy was yet to be recovered. However, the magistrate rejected the request for physical remand and sent the accused to jail on judicial remand.

The plaintiff’s counsel requested that since the key conspirators were still at large, the subordinate court should be restrained from proceeding with bail petitions until a decision is reached on the current appeal. The court, after hearing the arguments, sought the case record from the police and adjourned the hearing until November 5.

On October 29, Sadiqabad police registered a case under Sections 120B and 506(ii) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the senior journalist. According to the FIR, the accused — identified as Akash Ali, Ahmed, and Muhammad Vishal — were seen questioning the journalist in a suspicious manner before being intercepted by locals. During interrogation, they confessed that Qasim Owais Sindhu, Sikandar Sindhu, Akhtar Sindhu, and Mohsin Shah had made a deal with them for Rs200,000 to kill Tahir Naseer, of which Rs 99,000 had already been transferred, with the remaining Rs100,000 to be paid after completion of the task.