Safoora Goth carnage: Four accused aquitted over lack of evidence

Court says supplementary challan had many contradictions

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) acquitted on Tuesday four persons, who were accused in the Safoora Goth carnage case for facilitating terrorism.

The court announced its verdict after the police failed to provide any evidence against the accused, Zahid Motiwala, Sultan Qamar Siddiqui, Hussain Umar and Sajid Naeem. The court declared that the supplementary challan submitted by the police in March 2018, was in contradiction with facts and contained many mistakes.

The court also remarked that after reviewing the case, it found that no case could be made against the accused.



A military court had conducted the trial and awarded capital punishment to convicts, Saad Aziz, Tahir Minhas, Azhar Ishrat, Hafiz Nasir and Asadur Rehman in Safoora Goth carnage and other cases of terrorism.

The court remarked that Zahid Motiwala was an arms dealer and had sold the weapons to those who had valid licences.

It also observed that if a person uses the weapon for an illegal purpose, how can the dealer be responsible for it.

The police stated that military court had awarded the death sentence and other punishments to nine key accused of the carnage.

At least 45 people were killed when six terrorists targeted a bus carrying 60 members of the Ismaili community in May 2015.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2019.