Evidence not found: Crucial prosecution documents in Arshad Pappu case go missing, court told

Lawyer pleads court accept a copy

KARACHI: The triple-murder case of notorious gangster, Arshad Pappu, and his aides faced another setback on Wednesday as the prosecution lawyer told the court that a document pertaining to the identification of the suspects has gone missing.

Pappu, his brother Arafat and an associate Jumma Shera were lynched to death in March, 2013, allegedly by gang rivals. According to the prosecution, they were abducted from a flat in Defence Housing Authority and were taken to Lyari. The kidnappers shot them multiple times, chopped the bodies into pieces and then threw them away.

Pakistan Peoples Party MNA Shahjehan Baloch and four others, including two police officers, were taken into custody after they were accused of abetting the killing. The suspects were paraded before a judicial magistrate of District West and a key prosecution witnesses identified them. Two years later, the court was told that the parade's original document was missing.

The prosecution lawyer pleaded the anti-terrorism VII judge, Akhlaq Hussain Larak, accept the copy of the missing document. However, the defence counsel objected and claimed that the copy must be proved accurate before it can be submitted in court. The judge adjourned the hearing till March 12 for further arguments on the plea.

Meanwhile, an accused, Abdul Rehman alias Qari, was granted bail by the court upon surety bonds of Rs200,000. The absconders in the case include defunct Peoples Amn Committee chief Uzair Jan Baloch, Baba Ladla, former SHO of Chakiwara Chand Khan Niazi and other gangsters. The FIR of the case was registered on the complaint of Pappu's widow on directions passed by the apex court.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27^th, 2015.