Couple gets bail in kidnapping case

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) granted on Wednesday bails to accused Khurram Mazhar and his wife Sobia Khurram in a case related to the alleged kidnapping of an 11-year-old boy, Saqlain.

The petitioner, Noor Begum, stated before the court that Khurram, along with his wife, Sobia, had kidnapped her son on the pretext of giving him a job. She stated, "I left the boy in 2016 at Khurram's home for employment but the accused sold him for Rs0.2 million".

The defence counsel rejected the allegation and informed the court that his clients are innocent and they are being trapped by the applicant in a fake case. He said that no details of the kidnapping have been mentioned in the challan submitted before the sessions court.

He said the child was with his parents and they were blackmailing his clients.

The court asked from the child's mother why she had thought of meeting and seeing her son after the lapse of 22 months and why she had allowed her son to work for such a long time.

Ranijhani case

The SHC directed on Wednesday the counsels representing the petitioner and the defence in the Irshad Ranjhani murder case to appear in the next hearing with full preparation.

The court provided copies of petitions to both parties and directed the counsels to appear in the next hearing on March 15 with full preparation.

The prosecution's counsel pleaded to summon the investigation report prepared by the police, suspecting that the accused, Abdul Rahim Shah, may have been protected in the case. He complained that the police was not conducting investigation appropriately into the murder case.

The defense counsel told the court that the accused, Abdul Rahim Shah, has challenged the FIR registered against him under sections of Anti-Terrorism Act.

The counsel sought to club together both the petitions for the hearing which was later accepted by the high court.

The court, later, adjourned the hearing till March 15.



Missing person

The SHC expressed its annoyance over the failure of the Sindh police regarding the recovery of a missing citizen and summoned the Additional Inspector General (AIG) Karachi on the next hearing.

The court was hearing the plea filed by the family of one Adil Ali, who has been missing since 2015 from Garden area. The family stated that Adil was taken away in 2015 from his house and there was still no clue of his whereabouts.

The court questioned why the police could not trace Adil. It directed the AIGP to appear in person to inform the court regarding the disappearance of the missing citizen.

Bail granted

A three-member bench of SHC, granted bail on Wednesday bail to Gulzar Ahmad, a co-accused in the corruption case of Rs6billion in the Information Department of Sindh government.

The bench headed by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali Shaikh heard the bail pleas filed by co-accused Gulzar Ahmed, Salman Mansoor, Umair Shahzad and Syed Naveed who had sought bail in the case.

The bench granted the bail of one co-accused Gulzar Ahemd; however, it rejected others' plea. Former minister for Information and PPP leader Sharjeel Inam Memon is also nominated in the reference and is already in prison after his bail was rejected by the high court. The reference against the accused is being heard by an accountability court.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2019.