PML-N lawmaker acquitted in hit-and-run case

Rohale Asghar's driver also acquitted after reaching agreement on blood money with victim's family

ISLAMABAD: A judicial magistrate on Friday acquitted member National Assembly (MNA) Sheikh Rohale Asghar in a hit-and-run case after the victim's family told the court that his name had been included due to a ‘misunderstanding’.

According to the family, Asghar’s driver was behind the wheel at the time of the accident but the MNA’s name was included in the First Information Report (FIR).

Raz Muhammad, a security guard of a private firm, was killed after being hit by the vehicle as he walked on a footpath in Blue Area, Islamabad.



Police told the court that Asghar’s driver Zulfiar Bhatti was driving the vehicle when it hit and killed a man in Blue Area on August 10, 2015. Police claimed the MNA was not even in the vehicle at the time of the incident.

Judicial Magistrate Humayun Dilawar also acquitted Bhatti after he and the victim family agreed on a settlement and payment of the blood money.

Kohsar police had booked Asghar for ‘murder by mistake by harsh and negligent driving’. The incident had taken place on August 10, 2015, but the case was only registered on February 20 this year after the victim’s wife approached the court.



Earlier, Shaheen Bibi, the victim’s wife, had maintained in the FIR that her husband was walking on a footpath when he was hit by a car GAA-124. He was rushed to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences but could not survive. She had said that the car was being driven by the MNA, adding the victim was the sole bread earner of the family.

In July, when the court was due to formally charge the MNA and his driver, both the parties had sought time to reach an out-of-court settlement.