ATC indicts suspects in Zahra Shahid’s murder case

Charges were framed on Zahid Abbas Zaidi, Rashid alias Tailor, Kaleem and Irfan alias Lamba, all workers of the MQM.

KARACHI:

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) indicted on Monday four suspects in the murder case of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Zahra Shahid Hussain.

The charges were framed on Zahid Abbas Zaidi, Rashid alias Tailor, Kaleem and Irfan alias Lamba, all workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), by the ATC-VIII judge, Imdad Ali Khoso.

Hussain, a senior leader of PTI's Sindh chapter, was gunned down in May 2013 outside her residence in the Defence Housing Authority, hours before controversial re-elections in the NA-250 constituency. The killing had sparked unrest in the political circles of the country as PTI chief Imran Khan had accused the MQM of the murder.

The case has seen its fair share of delays as it reached the evidence stage nearly two years after the murder. The judge, after reading out the charges against the accused, asked them if they confessed to the crime. The suspects replied in the negative and pleaded their innocence. The judge then asked the investigation officer of the case to produce the evidence and witnesses on the next hearing of the case on June 15.

There are at least 20 witnesses named in the case, including the driver of the slain politician, who was present at the site when she was shot dead.

According to an investigation report, the suspects in collusion with their absconding accomplices — Junaid Bukhari, Tariq Nawaz and Asif alias Ganja — devised the plot of the killing and executed the plan riding on motorcycles. The report added that the suspects hid their weapons in an MQM unit office after the killing.

The three absconding suspects, having been declared proclaimed offenders, were also indicted in absentia.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2^nd, 2015.