Ex-MP acquitted in Quetta hit-and-run case

Judge acquits Abdul Majeed Achakzai due to lack of evidence


Mohammad Zafar September 05, 2020
MPA was arrested days after a fast-moving vehicle belonging to him hit and ran over Traffic Sergeant Haji Attaullah at Quetta’s GPO Chowk in June 2017. CCTV SCREENGRAB

QUETTA:

A local court in Quetta on Friday acquitted former Balochistan Assembly lawmaker Abdul Majeed Achakzai in a case pertaining to the death of a traffic warden in a hit-and-run case over three years ago.

Presiding Judge Dost Muhammad Mandokhel of a model court acquitted Achakzai, the former provincial Public Accounts Committee chairman, because of lack of evidence.

Achakzai was present in the court along with his lawyers Kamran Murtaza, Khalilur Rehman, Noor Jan Buledi and Jaffar Awan when the judge announced the judgement.

Achakzai, the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) ex-MPA, was charged with manslaughter for running over a traffic warden.

He was arrested days after a fast-moving vehicle belonging to him hit and ran over Traffic Sergeant Haji Attaullah at Quetta’s GPO Chowk in June 2017. The warden suffered serious injuries and later died at hospital.

Initially, police registered a case of accident against unidentified persons. But after a CCTV footage that went viral on social media, Balochistan police had registered a case against the former MPA – who is from Pashtoonkhawa Milli Awami Party – and arrested him on June 25, 2017 from his residence under the charges of terrorism, murder and attempt to murder. Civil lines police had submitted a challan in the Anti-Terrorist Court. However, the terrorism charge was later withdrawn as police failed to prove its charges in this regard.

Later, the case was shifted to the model court where the case remained under trial for three years.

Case facts

The unfortunate incident took place on June 20 when a speeding official vehicle, belonging to Achakzai, directly hit Dashti, leaving him seriously injured. Dashti, later, succumbed to his injuries. A cyclist, Abdul Ghafoor Baloch was also injured by Achakzai’s vehicle.

 Achakzai admitted that he was driving his official vehicle when the accident took place. He said he would settle the issue by paying compensation to the family of the late traffic sergeant as well as the injured passerby.

 Achakzai, who was elected to the Balochistan Assembly in 2013 elections from PB-13 Qila Abdullah, intended to leave for Dera Ghazi Khan along with tribal elders to meet the family of Dashti.

 Inspector General of Police Balochistan Ahsan Mehboob and other senior police officials took serious notice of the tragic incident and ordered the police officials concerned to register a case against the MPA.

 Achakzai allegedly ran over the warden after the latter ordered him to stop at GPO Chowk, which lies in the maximum security area of Balochistan’s capital. What was at first thought to be an accident was later suspected to be a deliberate act on the MPA’s part once CCTV footage of the incident emerged. There were also reports that Achakzai was drunk and driving recklessly when the officer signaled him to pull over.

 The police initially registered a ‘traffic accident’ case but were compelled to up the charge to ‘manslaughter’ after the footage – which showed Achakzai exchanging harsh words with the warden and then running him over – went viral on social media and prompted protests by the Balochistan press. The lawmaker was subsequently arrested by a police team, headed by a senior officer.

 “Yes, we arrested MPA Majeed Achakzai from his residence in Satellite Town area on charges of running over and killing a traffic police sergeant Haji Attaullah Dashti,” the senior officer at the Civil Lines Police Station confirmed.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ