Targeted killing: Man charged with CID constable's murder gets bail

Kamran Butt was arrested on charges of possessing illegal arms on Nov 5, 2012.

KARACHI: A bench of the Sindh High Court, headed by Justice Ghulam Sarwar Korai, ordered release on bail of a suspect for lack of evidence in a murder case on Friday.

The suspect was allegedly involved in the targeted killing of a constable of the Crime Investigation Department (CID).

The Khawaja Ajmer Nagri police arrested Kamran Butt on charges of possessing illegal arms on November 5, 2012. Later, investigators claimed that the suspect during interrogation confessed to killing 40-year-old constable Nisar Abbasi.

According to the prosecution, Abbasi was shot dead by unknown assailants on June 25, 2012. His brother, Chand Zeb, had registered a murder case 244/2012 under Sections 302 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, against unknown persons.

Butt is currently being tried by an Anti-Terrorism Court that had earlier dismissed his bail application.

The under-trial prisoner approached the SHC against the dismissal of his bail and asked the court to extend relief of bail to him as the prosecution had made a concocted story.

The lawyer claimed that constable Abbasi was murdered by two other nominated accused, but the police had dubbed his client despite lack of enough material evidence on record to connect him to the offence.

On the other hand, the state prosecutor vehemently opposed the plea, saying that the prosecution had rightly taken him into custody.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the bench ordered his release on bail subject to furnishing a solvent surety.