ATC adjourns Intezar Ahmed murder case hearing till Sept 10

An anti-terrorism court hearing the murder case of Intezar Ahmed, a college student who was killed in firing by officials of the Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) in January, has adjourned the case hearing till September 10.

The court expressed annoyance over the investigation officer’s failure to produce any prosecution witnesses at Thursday’s hearing and issued a notice directing him to ensure that witnesses are brought to court at the next hearing.

As many as eight officials of the Anti-Car Lifting Cell (ACLC) are being tried for the murder. All the accused have denied the charges brought against them and pleaded not guilty. The men accused of the murder include, ACLC SHO Tariq Mehmood, as well as other cops – Tariq Raheem, Ghulam Abbas, Azhar Ahsan, Fawad Khan, Danial, Bilal and Shahid.

Ahmed was killed when the ACLC officials opened fire at his car on Khayaban-e-Ittehad on January 14. According to the charge sheet, Bilal and Daniyal fired shots. His death was caused by the bullet which was fired from Bilal’s weapons. The trial court has rejected the bail pleas of the accused cops, and it is yet to hear evidence from around 28 witnesses named in the charge sheet.

Corruption reference

Meanwhile, the administrative judge of accountability courts fixed September 13 to hear a corruption reference against former PSO general manager Syed Zulfiqar Jaffery and former senior PSO general manger Syed Nazar Ali Zaidi.

The two men along with others are alleged to have committed corruption of around Rs63 billion. The judge noted that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had failed to present a proper reference against the two accused. He then directed the authorities concerned not to delay the presentation of a corruption reference.

NAB had arrested Syed Nazar Ali Zaidi from Hunza in Gilgit Baltistan and Syed Zulfiqar Jaffery from Islamabad last month.