Charges framed against key accused in Hamza murder case

Karachi
Charges were framed against four key accused in the Hamza murder case on Saturday in an anti-terrorism court which issued orders to the prosecution to summon witnesses for recording their statements at the next hearing scheduled for November 21.
Three accused, Shoaib Naveed, Idrees and Mushtaq, are in custody and pled not guilty to the charges of murdering O-level student Hamza Ahmed in April 2013 in the Defence area.
Another accused, Ammal Rehman, is at large.
According to the prosecution, 17-year-old Hamza was killed by Shoaib Naveed’s security guard, Ammal Rehman, after a squabble between the two outside a restaurant.
Though Naveed obtained bail, but the three others, including security guard Rehman and driver Shaukat, were denied bail.
Siddiqui’s interim bail
An anti-terrorism court extended the interim bail of Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader and former provincial minister Rauf Siddiqui till November 20.
Siddiqui could not appear in court due to what his attorney described a serious illness. He is on trial in 23 cases and has obtained bail against a surety of Rs20,000 in all of them.
Earlier, Siddiqui had approached the Sindh High Court to obtain protective bail in cases lodged against him and MQM chief Altaf Hussain and other leaders.
The ex-minister was booked for allegedly listening to and applauding Altaf Hussain’s speech in which the latter had made remarks against the military establishment and national security agencies.
Senator Col (retd) Tahir Hussain Mashhadi is standing similar trials in the ATC. He obtained protective bail from the Sindh High Court on August 5.