Indictment in Ali Raza Abidi murder case deferred again

An anti-terrorism court deferred again on Friday the indictment of four suspects in the murder case of former lawmaker Ali Raza Abidi as defence lawyers failed to attend the hearing.

The ATC-11 judge fixed the case on October 9 for the framing of charges and directed the absentee lawyers to ensure their presence at the next hearing so that the court could proceed. Police have arrested Abdul Haseeb, Muhammad Ghazali, Muhammad Farooq and Abu Bakr in connection with the killing. Four others, Mustafa, Faizan, Hasnain and Bilal, are absconding.

Former Muttahida Qaumi Movement MNA Abidi was shot dead outside his residence in Defence Housing Authority by motorcyclists in an apparent targeted attack. The Counter Terrorism Department suspected the involvement of a foreign spy agency in the murder to cause unrest in the city.

The court has already issued permanent warrants of arrest against the absconding suspects. The court had previously declared them proclaimed offenders and ordered forfeiture of their properties.

At the time of the arrest, CTD official SSP Naveed Ahmed Khawaja had said that at least eight people were involved in the murder and the mastermind of the killing was still at large. He said that a foreign spy agency could be behind the killing.

He had said that the CTD first arrested Farooq and later held three more suspects, Haseeb, Ghazali and Bakr. They, according to the SPP, disclosed the names of Mustafa, Faizan, Hasnain and Bilal.

He added that an unidentified men had paid them Rs800,000 for the killing. The FIR of the incident was registered under sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 on the complaint of the deceased’s father, Akhlaq Abidi, at the Gizri police station.