An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday adjourned the hearing of the Sarfaraz Shah extra-judicial murder case till Tuesday.
The defence counsels appeared before ATC-I judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso, who is conducting the trial of the case, and submitted an adjournment application stating that the lawyers are on strike against the killing of their colleague, advocate Mukhtar Bukhari, who was gunned down on Saturday evening.
The court granted the application and adjourned the hearing for the next day. Rangers Sub-Inspector Bahaur Rehman, Lance Naik Liaquat Ali, constables Mohammad Tariq, Minthar Ali, Shahid Zafar and Mohammad Afzal and private contractor Afsar Khan are charged for killing Sarfaraz Shah, 22, on June 8 at the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Park located in Clifton, Karachi.
According to the prosecution, Shah was killed by personnel of the paramilitary force in a public park after he was handed over to them by the private contractor, Afsar Khan, who accused him of theft.
However, the TV footage of Shah’s killing showed that the Rangers personnel shot the unarmed youth and watched him bleed to death instead of shifting him to a hospital for treatment.
The case was registered against the accused by the Boat Basin police under sections 302, 34 and 36 of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Consequently, FIR No 227/2011 under sections 302 & 34 PPC was lodged against personnel visible in the video footage at the same police station on complaint of the victim’s brother Salik Shah, a reporter for a local news TV channel.
