An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday adjourned the hearing of Sarfaraz Shah murder case until Friday (today) after one of the defence counsels was unable to attend the proceedings due to the poor law and order situation.
Despite the presence of other defence counsels, case investigation officer and prosecution witnesses in the court, ATC-I Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso adjourned the hearing by granting the adjournment application filed by defence counsel Naimat Ali Randhawa Advocate through his junior lawyer Tariq Advocate, requesting the court to adjourn the hearing as he was able to appear before the court due to the poor law and order situation in the metropolis.
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 accused of killing 22-year-old Sarfaraz Shah with common intention in the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Park on June 8. The court has already indicted the accused in the case as the video footage of the incident, filmed by a private television channel cameraman, had revealed that the Rangers personnel shot the unarmed youth after a civilian had dragged him over to the law enforcers, accusing him of being a robber.
Advocate Shoukat Hayat submitted his advocacy papers for accused Zafar and Afzal; Advocate MR Syed for accused Rehman and Ali, Advocate Randhawa for accused Tariq and Manthar; while Advovate Aamir Warraich was appointed the defence counsel for civilian Afsar Khan for the trial.
According to the prosecution, the deceased was murdered in an extrajudicial killing by paramilitary personnel, accusing that the Rangers personnel shot unarmed Shah twice and after seriously injuring him, watched him bleed to death instead of shifting him to a hospital for medical 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.
The police stated in the charge sheet that the accused deliberately murdered the deceased, first injuring the youth with common intention and by the act of ‘commission of omission’, they denied him medical treatment as he succumbed to his injuries due to excessive bleeding and lack of medical care. The prosecution named 46 witnesses, including two eyewitnesses, in the charge sheet in addition to a list of 14 articles, including the crime weapon for proving the accused guilty.
