Two extortionists sentenced to five years in jail

Karachi
Two extortionists with who had demanded a total of Rs3.5 million against seven family members of Wing Commander (retd) Nisar Ahmed Khan of the Pakistan Air Force, were sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, each, by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday.
The complainant, former Air Force Wing Commander Nisar Ahmed Khan, had received a phone call from an unknown number on December 24, 2013, asking him to pick up a parcel placed in his car porch. He opened the parcel next day to find a letter demanding Rs3.5 million or to face the deaths of all seven family members. The letter bore slogans “Jiay Aziz Jan” and “Jiay Lyari” and contained two bullets made by SG Company.
Khan later received another phone call from the accused after which he agreed to pay Rs2 million as extortion money.
At the same time he also informed the police and a case (FIR No 358/2013) was registered at the Gulistan-e-Jauhar under sections 386/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
Subsequently, the police investigated the matter and conducted raids resulting in the arrest of both accused who have been in police custody since 2013. They were identified as Khan’s former driver, Imran Raza Kazmi, and Mohammad Tahir.
After hearing the prosecution and the statements of five witnesses, the court ruled that Imran and Tahir were guilty of a heinous crime and sentenced them to five years’ imprisonment.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs50,000 on each convict, and in case they failed to pay this amount they would have to spend an additional four months in jail.
However, the court observed that the time the accused had spent in detention would be included in their sentence.

IO issued notice
Meanwhile, another ATC issued a show-cause notice to an Investigation Officer (IO) who had failed to appear in the court in the case being heard against alleged extortionist Farhan Saleem.
The accused had demanded Rs1.5m from a trader, Ameen, in 2013 by sending a ‘parchi’ and two bullets. The piece of paper also bore a note asking him to pay Rs50,000 at once or face death.
The trader Ameen informed the police and a case was registered at the Baghdadi police station. The accused was arrested and brought to court, but neither the IO nor prosecution witnesses came forward to record their evidence.
Subsequently, the court took action over this negligence and issued a show-cause notice to the IO and all witnesses concerned to appear and explain the matter of their absence on January 31.
The accuses, Farhan Saleem, had also been involved in a case of robbery in the court of Judicial Magistrate Central Zaheer Ahmad. However, he had been acquitted from the charges. The case had been registered at the Aziz Bhatti police station.