Wrongly implicated: ATC clears up mistaken identity case

The complainant verified that the detained man was not the one who committed the crime.

KARACHI: A case of mistaken identity was cleared up in Anti-Terrorism Court III on Thursday, after the judge ordered the release of a man who had been wrongly implicated - only because he shared the same name as the alleged criminal involved.

The First Information Report of the case was filed at the Baghdadi police station under sections of the Pakistan Penal Code that cover murder and attempted murder, preventing public servants from working and causing ‘mischief’ as well as under the Explosives Act.

The man accused in the case was Sajjad Khatri, named as the son of Ahmed Khatri, who was alleged to have killed a police officer during the operation in Lyari earlier this year.

However, the man in the police’s custody was also a man named Sajjad Khatri, but his father’s name is Mohammad Shafi.

When the confusion surfaced, the investigation officer was ordered to conduct an identification parade and the complainant verified that the man in custody wasn’t the one he had accused. The charge sheet also states that the man accused of the crime was Ahmed Khatri’s son.

The prosecutor then informed the court of the matter and asked for it to withdraw proceedings against Mohammad Shafi’s son Sajjad Khatri. He is set to be released under section 63 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Sajjad Khatri, an alleged member of the Peoples Amn Committee, has been given bail by the Sindh High Court in another case that is ongoing at the Anti-Terrorism Court.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 26^th, 2012.