Protesters demanded the release of Dr Riaz outside the Karachi Press Club on Sunday. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS
The court is likely to pronounce its decision today.
Dr Ahmed, an Associate Professor at the Applied Chemistry Department at KU, is booked in an illicit weapon case. According to the prosecution, he was arrested by the Rangers on April 1 after an unlicensed pistol was recovered from him during a search of his car.
The hearing of the bail application was conducted by District South Additional District and Sessions Judge Rajesh Chandar Rajput inside his court, as the teacher's fraternity attended it in large numbers.
The defence counsel, Barrister Salahuddin Ahmed, argued that his client was implicated in a false case with malafide intentions by the authorities who wanted to victimise him for his struggle for the release of his elderly teacher, Dr Hasan Zafar Arif, who is also a leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) - London.
When Dr Ahmed was arrested, he was heading to hold a press conference demanding the release of Dr Arif, who is jailed in a number of cases pertaining to the 'incendiary and hateful' speeches of MQM founder Altaf Hussain.
Two more people - Dr Mehroze Afroze Murad, a retired KU faculty member, and Naghma Iqtidar, a Democratic Students Federation activist - were also taken into custody on that day. However, they were released after a brief detention.
The defence counsel maintained that the case did not have any strong grounds because all the witnesses mentioned in it were Rangers personnel on whose complaint the FIR was lodged. There was no independent witness to verify the facts, he added.
He contended that his client deserved bail since he was remanded to prison the preceding day because the Rangers did not require his custody for questioning. He said that his client was a respectable member of society and, more precisely, a teacher who had dedicated his life to educating people.
On the other hand, the special public prosecutor representing the paramilitary force, Sajid Mehboob Shaikh, opposed the bail plea and argued that besides the present case, the applicant, as per his data obtained from his mobile phone, was also allegedly promoting and supporting bloggers accused of committing blasphemy. He said that both the matters were still under investigation and the accused's mobile phone was sent to a forensic lab for analysis into the extended allegations.
The judge adjourned the matter will Thursday when the court is likely pronounce its order on the bail application after hearing remaining arguments from the prosecutor.
The case was registered against Dr Ahmed under Section 23 (i) A of the Sindh Arms Act, 2013 on the complaint of a Rangers inspector at the Artillery Maidan police station.
Meanwhile, the Karachi University Teachers Society has condemned the arrest, demanding the immediate release of their colleague. The KU teachers' fraternity has also announced a boycott of classes after 11:00am observing a black day today.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ