Police escort prime suspect Shahrukh Jatoi and other suspects, with covered faces, after they were brought before a judge at an anti-terrorism court in Karachi. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN
Prime suspect in the Shahzeb Khan murder case, Shahrukh Jatoi, has been remanded in police custody till January 23 by an anti-terrorism court (ATC).
Shahrukh was finally produced before the court three weeks after the murder, and after his short-lived escape to the UAE.
Shahrukh, his friends Siraj Talpur and Sajjad Talpur and their cook Ghulam Murtaza had allegedly killed Shahzeb on December 25, 2012, over a petty dispute.
Inspector Muhammad Mobin, an investigator in the case, had requested physical custody of Shahrukh till January 27.
Mobin told the court that Shahrukh needed to be interrogated in connection with the arrest of two absconding co-accused, Asif Lund and Salman Jatoi. Two pistols and a vehicle used in the crime are yet to be recovered.
ATC-III Judge Ghulam Mustafa Memon, however, remanded him to police custody for seven days and directed the investigation officer to submit a final report by the next date of hearing.
Legality of arrest process
Naeem Qureshi and Amir Mansoob Khan, the defence lawyers, moved an application questioning the process adopted by police authorities for arresting Shahrukh in Dubai, where he was hiding. The arrest process is illegal, as legal formalities have not been followed, they alleged.
Issuing a notice to the special public prosecutor, the judge directed him to submit relevant documents showing whether or not legal formalities were adopted in the arrest process.
The judge also directed the police to produce Shahrukh before the police surgeon at the civil hospital, who will conduct an ‘ossification’ test to determine his age.
Defence lawyers argued that the suspect is a minor, and should be tried separately from the adult co-accused with concessions prescribed for juvenile offenders.
Shahrukh’s age, however, was not mentioned by the lawyers in their application.
Evidence
The suspect’s lawyers also pleaded to the court to order that the nine ‘empties’ allegedly recovered by the investigation officer from the crime scene be transferred to the custody of any other officer. “The investigation officer might tamper with the empties presently sent to the forensic science laboratory for matching,” they argued.
Special public prosecutor Abdul Maroof objected to the application, saying that the anti-terrorism court could not pass such an order, because it was tantamount to interfering with the investigation.
Sikandar Jatoi released
Meanwhile, the investigation officer told the court that due to the absence of solid evidence against Shahrukh’s father, Sikandar Jatoi, he has been released after investigation.
The judge directed the investigation officer to submit a proper report explaining on what grounds the accused was released.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2013.
COMMENTS (9)
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What is the date of birth written on his Matriculation certificate, Birth certificate and in the record of his educational insitution in australia. If he is under 18 why it is not corrected earlear.
@hania
Would you be so forgiving and magnanimous if this was your family member.
So he should get what this parasite deserves and that illiterate imbecile upstart dad of his should realize that his ill gotten wealth and scum friends can't buy everything all he time.
@hania: It should not be me or you to decide whther we should hang him or not. This should be the decision of Shahzeb's parents. If they want him hanged, he should be hanged and there is no clause in Islam which disallows them to do so
These guys may live in the city, have fancy cars and study in Australia and have an apartment in Dubai. Mentally they are still tribal and see the world the way grandfathers saw the world from between the legs of a donkey or camel. Still they must learn the consequences of being a modern person and be tried by a court for their crimes and pay the price if found guilty.
He is just 16 and killing people what do you think hw will do after a few years. And Allah taala knows how many he has killed before. His bad luck that the person he killed wa dsp's son and nephew of the influential Nabeel Gabol otherwise no one was ready to file FIR for the boy. This has to come to an end. Sikander Jatoi is not even going through half the torture that the dsp is going through. I salute shazeb's friends who are so brave.
@Danial : He is not a minor...he was in my class and I'm 22 years....plus he was in australia for his foundation course in prep for an MBA degree...
He should be punished for his crime but as muslims we should partially forgive hime and not hang him for his crimet
He should be tried as an adult and be hanged in public so that this is a lesson to the rest of the other people who subscribe to feudal lifestyle.