ATC reserves verdict in Perween Rahman murder case

An anti-terrorism court on Friday reserved its verdict in the Perween Rahman murder case. The judgement will be pronounced on October 28.

Rahman, 55, was assassinated in a drive-by shooting on the Banaras flyover on March 13, 2013. She was a renowned urban planner and social activist running an NGO called Orangi Pilot Project in the Orangi Town neighborhood.

Five suspects -- Abdul Rahim Swati, his son Imran Swati and their three accomplices, Ayaz Shamzai, Ahmed Khan and Amjad Hussain Khan -- were charged with the murder.

Earlier on the previous hearing, the ATC-VII judge, who is conducting the trial inside the Central Prison, had recorded final arguments from the complainant, the prosecution and the defence.

Advocate Faisal Siddiqui, who represented the complainant, Aquila Ismail, sister of the slain activist, had pleaded with the court to hand down a strict punishment to the accused. He contended that strong evidence was placed on the record against them.

He said Abdul Rahim, a local leader of the Awami National Party, had also confessed during investigations that over a dispute with her on a piece of land in Peerabad, he had planned the murder of Rahman and executed her with the help of a Taliban militant. He added that the victim had also named her killer in an interview to a journalist two years before her assassination.

Advocate Shah Imroze, the defence counsel for the accused, raised an objection to the merit of the evidence and contended that they were full of glaring contradictions. He referred to the abovementioned interview and argued that in it she had also named former Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Dr Farooq Sattar and his party MPA Abdul Qudoos. He added that the investigators had not mentioned the names of these politicians in the charge sheet.