Indictment deferred in Ali Raza Abidi killing case

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) deferred again on Wednesday the indictment of four suspects in the murder case of former Muttahida Qaumi Movement lawmaker Ali Raza Abidi.

The ATC-XI judge has now fixed the date of framing charges for November 18 and has directed the defence and prosecution lawyers to ensure their presence on the next hearing so that the court could proceed with the case.

Police have arrested Abdul Haseeb, Muhammad Ghazali, Muhammad Farooq and Abu Bakr in connection with the killing. Four other suspects, Mustafa, Faizan, Hasnain and Bilal, have been absconding.

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

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

At the time of the suspects’ arrests, 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 had said that the CTD first arrested Farooq and later apprehended three more suspects, Haseeb, Ghazali and Bakr. They, according to the SSP, disclosed the names of their accomplices Mustafa, Faizan, Hasnain and Bilal. The officer had added that an unidentified men paid them Rs800,000 for the killing.

The FIR of the incident was registered under the sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code 1860 read with the Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 on the complaint of the deceased’s father, Akhlaq Abidi, at the Gizri police station.