Sulaiman Lashari case: ATC rejects Salman Abro’s applications

The defence sought an amendment in the charge, inspection of the site of the killing.

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday turned down two applications filed by the defence in the Sulaiman Lashari murder case, seeking an amendment in the charges framed on the accused and the inspection of the site where the teenager was killed.

Lashari, an 18-year-old student, was shot dead at his residence in Defence Housing Authority on May 8, 2014, allegedly by Salman Abro, son of a senior superintendent of police, and his guards, identified as Mashooq Brohi, Yasin, Imran and Rashid. According to the prosecution, Lashari was studying in his balcony around midnight when Abro and his police guards came to settle a dispute and opened fire at him. The guards deployed at the victim’s house retaliated, injuring Abro and killing Ahmed.

The order, pronounced on Monday, was reserved at a previous hearing last week after the prosecution and defence completed their arguments. Advocate Sharfuddin Jamali, the counsel for the accused, told The Express Tribune that the applications were submitted because the defence believed that the investigation into the case had been biased.

“The FIR read that Abro and his guards were armed with deadly weapons but only three Kalashnikovs were recovered from the scene,” he contended. “And the charge, framed recently, failed to specify who had fired at the deceased.” He added that the defence wanted to inspect Lashari’s residence to determine how the two deceased were shot.

The prosecution, on the other hand, argued that the facts were briefly written in the challan and the suspects had been identified by the key witnesses. Therefore, they submitted, there was no need to entertain the pleas.

ATC-III judge Saleem Raza Baloch, after listening to both the sides, rejected the applications and fixed April 6 for the next hearing of the case.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2015.