Hearing of transfer application adjourned

Former police official accused of torturing Zardari in custody in 1999, asks court to transfer his case.

KARACHI: A former police official, who is one of the men accused of torturing Asif Ali Zardari in custody in 1999, has asked a court to transfer his case.

District and sessons judge South Hasan Feroz adjourned the hearing till November on Thursday.

Former inspector general Rana Maqbool, who is the current prosecutor general of Punjab, was allegedly involved in torturing Zardari while he was in custody at the CIA Centre, Civil Lines in Karachi over a decade ago.

His lawyer Rana M Shamim expressed Maqbool’s lack of confidence and trust in the court and requested that the case be transferred.

The judge adjourned the hearing because all the records and papers of the case are now with the Sindh High Court, where another application by the accused for protection before arrest is also pending.

Zardari was allegedly tortured at the CIA, Civil Lines, where he was being interrogated in connection with a double murder case of Justice (ret’d) Nizam Ahmed and his son Nadeem Ahmed, who were gunned down in 1995 by unidentified men over a property dispute.

Zardari was found with a lacerated tongue and the then prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, alleged that he had attempted suicide. On the other hand, Zardari had alleged that he was tortured by men including Maqbool. Maqbool is now facing a trial in the case, which also includes DIG Farooq Amin Qureshi and Najaf Mirza.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2010.