Indictment in Abidi murder case deferred again

The indictment of four suspects in the murder case of former lawmaker Ali Raza Abidi has been deferred again due to unavailability of the trial court judge.

The anti-terrorism court-XI has now fixed the framing of charges on Abdul Haseeb, Muhammad Ghazali, Muhammad Farooq and Abu Bakr on November 26. Police had arrested the suspects in March this year in connection with the killing. Four other suspects, Mustafa, Faizan, Hasnain and Bilal, have been absconding and the court has issued permanent arrest warrants for them.

Former Muttahida Qaumi Movement MNA Abidi was shot dead in December 2018 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 court previously declared them proclaimed offenders and ordered forfeiture of their properties. At the time of the arrests, CTD official SSP Naveed Ahmed Khawaja said at least eight people were involved in the murder and the mastermind of the killing was still at large. He added that an unidentified men had paid them Rs800,000 for the killing.