Murder charges: Accused judge remanded to police custody for 15 days

Sikandar Ali Lashari, prime suspect in murder of Aqib, has already spent two weeks in police and judicial remands.

HYDERABAD:

An anti-terrorism court on Monday handed over the accused judge, Sikandar Ali Lashari, to the police on a 15-day physical remand.

Lashari, who was the district and sessions judge of Tharparkar before his suspension on March 4, is the prime suspect in the murder of 20-year-old Aqib Shahani, whose father is also a judge in Jacobabad district. Lashari has already spent two weeks in police and judicial remands.

His counsel, Hashim Laghari, submitted to the court that the judge was a heart patient and required medical care at the hospital. The ATC ordered physical examination of the judge but allowed the police to take him in their remand.

Aqib was killed in front of his mother, two sisters and a cousin near Niaz Cricket Stadium. The gunmen pulled him out of the car and shot him at point-blank range. According to DSP Razi Khan Alamani, who is investigating the case, the judge planned the attack while Ghulam Abbass Siyal carried it out.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2014.