The ATC-III sentenced Prem, son of Jewan, to five years in prison after he was found guilty of taking extortion from a shopkeeper at Light House.
According to the prosecution, Prem had demanded Rs200,000 as extortion on April 10, 2013, from the complainant, Khizar Siddiqi, who runs a paper shop on MA Jinnah Road, and had threatened to kill him if he did not pay the money. The shopkeeper had insisted he could not pay such a large amount and after negotiations, the amount was settled at Rs20,000.
Subsequently, Siddiqi had informed the Aram Bagh police, who formed a team to arrest the extortionist red-handed. On April 12, when Prem arrived at the designated site to collect the extortion money, he was arrested.
Judge Saleem Raza Baloch, of ATC-III, observed that Prem was found guilty of the offence under Section 6(2) (k) of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and had been convicted under Section 265-H of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The judge also ordered the convict to pay Rs10,000 as fine, which on default would result in three months of additional imprisonment.
Court told of detention
The same court was informed by the Pakistan Rangers about the three months' detention of seven suspects arrested during a targeted operation in Lyari.
The Ghazi wing of the paramilitary force, along with its legal team presented the suspects, identified as Asif, Murtaza alias Saleem, Owais, Rashid Ibrahim, Khalilur Rehman, Amir and Riaz, before the ATC-III judge. According to the Rangers personnel, the suspects were affiliated with Lyari-based gangs and there was credible information against them in cases pertaining to terrorism.
The court was apprised that the suspects had been detained for three months under Section 11EEEE(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2014.
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