Two eyewitnesses helped solve the murder of TV reporter Wali Babar by voluntarily telling the police about the car used by the killers and who fired at him.
This came to the fore when Investigation Officer Inspector Noor Sabir submitted the charge sheet before Justice Maqbool Baqar of the High Court of Sindh and Administrative Judge (AJ) for the Anti-Terrorism Courts for Karachi late on Thursday.
The AJ accepted the charge sheet and marked the case for trial to Anti-Terrorism Court II, which does not have a judge at present.
The charge sheet said that soon after the incident on January 13, 2011, an eyewitness, WA, called the police helpline ‘Madadgar 15’ and made an entry, informing the police about the registration number of the Suzuki Cultus car (ADZ-301) used in the murder.
WA told the police that the men who fired and killed Wali, fled on a motorcycle and after covering a little distance, got into the car which then sped off. The police traced the car’s owners and found it was being used by Liaquat Ali, an assistant engineer in the KDA wing of the City District Government Karachi. Liaquat had not been coming to work since January 11. The car was confiscated from Billy’s Garden, Metroville, Block II, Gulzar-e-Hijri.
The investigator claimed in the charge sheet that in view of the sensitive nature of the case, the investigations were made in a scientific manner and the police recovered a glass, a CD cassette player, a pair of shoes and a fingerprint which were sent to KRL General Hospital, Islamabad for DNA sampling.
The IO stated in the charge sheet that on April 2, another eyewitness HA informed the police that he saw the alleged killers from close range and could identify them if they came before him. HA helped prepare sketches. On April 7, ASI Abdul Sattar Gopang of Gulshan-e-Iqbal said that some men arrested in a car theft case disclosed their involvement in the murder case.
The men taken into custody in this case were Muhammad Shah Rukh alias Mani, Muhammad Sohail, Faisal Mehmood alias Nafsiati, Syed Mohammad Ali Rizvi.
The men disclosed to the police that Kamran alias Zeeshan fired at Babar with a 9 mm pistol. On April 18, the Finger Prints Bureau report confirmed the involvement of Syed Muhammad Ali Rizvi. The DNA report is awaited, stated the IO in the charge sheet.
Liaquat Ali, Faisal alias Mota, S.M. Kamran alias Zeeshan are all on the run.
The charge sheet has a list of 23 prosecution witnesses. On April 14, one of the accused men, Muhammad Shahrukh alias Mani, made a confessional statement before Judicial Magistrate VII, Central. The eyewitness also identified the alleged killers, it said.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 29th, 2011.
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