Shazeb Khan. PHOTO: FILE
A judicial magistrate on Monday told the Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) hearing Shahzeb Khan’s murder case that he had recorded statements of eyewitnesses who identified Shahrukh Jatoi and three others for their involvement in the crime.
Judicial Magistrate South Waqar Ahmed Soomro told the court that he had recorded statements of two eyewitnesses who had seen the prime suspect, Jatoi, shooting at Shahzeb Khan.
The judicial magistrate said that on January 9, 2013, the two witnesses separately identified Sajjad Talpur, Siraj Talpur and Ghulam Mustafa Lashari. Then, he said, on January 19, the eyewitnesses were also able to identify Shahrukh. Recorded statements were sealed and submitted to the court..
The day-long proceedings also saw Shahzeb’s mother appearing before ATC Judge Ghulam Mustafa Memon.
Shahzeb, the 20-year-old son of a police officer, was shot dead in his car in December last year in the upscale Defence Housing Authority (DHA) neighbourhood of Karachi.
In her statement, Shahzeb’s mother said her son was murdered the night the family returned from a wedding. The parents were in one car and had stopped at the market while Shahzeb and his sister headed home in another. After a while, she said she received a call from her daughter who said someone had misbehaved with her. She called Shahzeb to learn more about what had happened, but he was busy parking the car.
As the parents reached home, they saw Shahzeb and Shahrukh embroiled in a fight. Shahzeb’s father Aurengzeb stepped in and settled the brawl. Later, they learned that their son had been shot. He was subsequently taken to a private hospital where he passed away.
All four accused: Shahrukh Jatoi, Siraj Talpur, Sajjad Talpur and Ghulam Mustafa Lashari have pleaded not guilty.
The Supreme Court has ordered the ATC to decide the fate of the accused in seven days, which means the verdict is expected before March 13.
If convicted, the prime suspect, Shahrukh Jatoi, faces a minimum punishment of life imprisonment or even death, according to lawyers. Police have completed the investigation and submitted a final challan in court that nominates Jatoi and others. Earlier, the judge had rejected a plea by defence lawyers to transfer the case to the sessions court instead of proceeding with it under the stricter Anti Terrorism Act 1997.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2013.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ