KARACHI: The
administrative judge of the antiterrorism courts on Tuesday remanded in police
custody a suspect in a case pertaining to possession of illicit weapons.
Police claimed to
have arrested Kamran, alias Zeeshan alias Shani, who had been reportedly
sentenced to death in the murder case of Geo News reporter Wali Khan Babar, for
possessing illicit arms.
Babar, a 28-year-old
television journalist, was driving home from office when he was shot dead in
Liaquatabad within the jurisdiction of the Supermarket police station on
January 13, 2011.
An antiterrorism
court in Kandhkot had awarded death sentence to Kamran and Faisal Mehmood,
alias Mota, in absentia while four co-convicts were given life imprisonment in
the present case on March 1, 2014.
On Tuesday, the
investigating officer produced the suspect before the ATCs’ administrative
judge to seek his physical remand in an arms case.
He mentioned that
the suspect was also required to be interrogated in connection with the murder
case of journalist Wali Khan Babar in which he was reportedly avoiding arrest
for 10 years.
Allowing the
request, the judge remanded him in police custody, till June 30, with direction
to the IO to produce him on the next date along with an investigation report.
According to the
police, Kamran along with his accomplices, all allegedly belonging to the
Muttahida Qaumi Movement, had killed Wali Babar, who was reportedly associated
with the Awami National Party, over his reporting against the MQM.
Kamran was arrested
in a joint operation conducted by the Special Investigation Unit and a federal
intelligence agency.
Initially, police
had named eight accused, including Liaquat Ali, who was killed in an encounter.
According to the
police, several witnesses connected with the case were murdered, including
Rajab Bengali, who was killed in 2011.
Another ‘star’
witness Haider Ali, on whose testimony the conviction had taken place, was also
killed in 2012.
Advocate Naimat Ali
Randhawa was also murdered in September 2013 while he was pleading the case as
a special public prosecutor.
According to an
alleged confession of Zeeshan, the MQM-London South Africa group was involved
in the journalist’s murder.
Newspaper: Dawn
Related Links: The
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