Accused of murder: Court remands judge in police custody for seven days

Justice Sikandar Ali Lashari has been accused of killing another judge’s son.

HYDERABAD: The Anti-Terrorism Court handed over a district and sessions judge to the police on Wednesday on a seven-day physical remand. The judge, Sikandar Ali Lashari, who heads the Tharparkar district and sessions court, is the prime accused in the murder of 20-year-old Aqib Shahani.

Aqib, the son of a sitting district and sessions judge of Jacobabad, Khalid Hussain Shahani, was gunned down in Hyderabad on February 19. Family members and friends of the deceased claimed that it was a case of honour killing. However, they have still not taken this stance officially, leaving it to the police to investigate the cause.

Lashari was presented before the ATC judge, Abdul Ghafoor Memon, on Wednesday amid tight security. The police ensured that he was not in view of the media’s cameras as he was brought in tinted double-cabin vehicle. The investigation officer, DSP Razi Khan Almani, demanded a 14-day remand of the judge but the court allowed only seven days.

“We have arrested three suspects [nominated in the case] including the prime suspect,” SSP Pir Farid Jan Sarhandi told media outside the court. “We have solid evidence that shows that the judge is involved,” he asserted. The police had earlier obtained the physical remand of another suspect, Malook Rahimo, for seven days on February 27, according to DSP Almani.

The Shahani family’s counsel, Muhammad Daud Narejo, told The Express Tribune that Aqib’s mother and sisters have identified the killers. The family was on their way home in Anwar Villas when their car was intercepted by the assailants near Niaz Cricket Stadium on the night of February 19. Aqib was pulled out of the car and shot dead. The FIR of the incident was registered at the GOR police station on the complaint of Hunain Shahani, a cousin of the deceased, who was also present in the car when the incident occurred.

Aqib was a student of law at the Hamdard University, Karachi. According to his family members, he was in love with Lashari’s daughter but the judge was allegedly opposed to their marriage.

Both the Shahani and Lashari families hail from Larkana district. The Shahanis had settled in Hyderabad while the Lasharis were residing in Karachi. Shahani was posted in Tharparkar on November 13, 2013. He was elevated to the post of sessions judge in 2010.

Shahani’s mother, Shamsunissa and sisters, Komal and Nimra, filed an application in the Sindh High Court on February 26, requesting the court to allow prosecution of Lashari. The court suspended Lashari on March 3 and granted permission for his interrogation.

According to advocate Qazi Sattar, this is only the second time that a district and sessions judge has been arrested in Sindh. Earlier in 1974, a district and session judge of Sanghar, Owais Murtaza, was arrested for granting bails to Hurrs, the followers of Pir Pagara. His arrest was, however, considered as political pressure from the government of Zulfiqar Bhutto and the judge was released after the lawyers’ protests. Unlike his predecessor, Lashari is not getting any support from lawyers.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2014.