Sulaiman Lashari case: Family ‘threatened’ by Salman Abro

According to the brother of the deceased, family told to withdraw case or else

KARACHI: The brother of deceased Sulaiman Lashari has alleged that the murder accused, Salman Abro, has threatened him and his family outside an anti-terrorism court (ATC) to withdraw the case or else ‘face consequences.’

“Agar mujhe saza hui to acha nahi hoga [If I am sentenced, it won’t be good],” Zeeshan quoted Salman as saying after the hearing of the case at ATC-VII inside the Central Jail.

The case against Salman, who is the son of a high-ranking serving police officer, SSP Ghulam Sarwar Abro, and his four guards, Rashid, Yasin, Maqbool and Imran, was notified as jail trial in November last year by the home department citing security concerns.

Salman and his guards are charged with the murder of 18-year-old O’ Levels student, Sulaiman, over a ‘petty’ dispute at the latter’s house in Defence Housing Authority on May 8, 2014.

On Thursday, the case was fixed for recording the statement of Zeeshan, who is an eyewitness of the killing, and other witnesses named in the charge-sheet.

Zeeshan narrated before the judge how his brother was allegedly killed by the accused, after which the lawyer representing the accused cross-examined him.



“After the conclusion of hearing when witnesses left the courtroom, Salman appeared and threatened me, other witnesses and even the investigating officer, Muhammad Mobin, of facing the consequences if he was punished for the crime,” said Zeeshan.

The complainant’s lawyer, Salahuddin Panhwar, said that threats were being issued since the start of the case but this was a direct one. “Salman was not supposed to be brought to the court but he was moving there freely,” he said.

Panhwar said that the case was bifurcated after a medical board declared Salman, the main accused, a minor in June, 2014. Since then, his case has been heard separately for Abro as a juvenile trial, he added.

The lawyer maintained that there was a lot of pressure on his client’s family from the side of the accused. “Abro’s family was trying different means to threaten the complainants and was influencing the case proceedings,” he said, referring to the jail trial notification for the case. The case’s grounds were not fit to be tried inside prison but still it was sent there on ‘the desire of the Abros’, he added.

The Lashari family has expressed concerns over withdrawing of their security by the police and asked ‘who will be responsible if something happens to them.’

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2016.