ATC to hear additional witnesses in Debra Lobo attack case

KARACHI: An antiterrorism court allowed on Wednesday an application moved by the prosecution pleading to record additional evidence of more witnesses in the case pertaining to an alleged attempt on the life of American educationist Debra Lobo.

Convicted accused Saad Aziz, alias Tin Tin, along with his four accomplices have been charged with shooting at and wounding Ms Lobo, the vice principal of Jinnah Medical and Dental College, on Shaheed-i-Millat Road, in April 2015.

On Wednesday, the ATC-XI judge, who is conducting the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, pronounced his verdict on the plea, which was reserved last week after hearing arguments from the prosecution and the defence.

Allowing the application, the judge directed the investigating officer to produce the three witnesses to record their testimonies and fixed the matter for Oct 22.

Earlier, the assistant prosecutor general had filed an application under Section 540 (power to summon material witness or examine persons present) of the Criminal Procedure Code, pleading to examine three more witnesses of the prosecution in the case.

The court was informed that the empty cases of bullets secured from the scene, where Ms Lobo was shot, were sent to the forensic science laboratory for ballistic analysis. They informed that the cases had matched with a 0.9mm calibre pistol, which had also been used in the Safoora Goth carnage.

It further stated that the same weapon was later recovered on the information by the detained accused. Therefore, it pleaded to summon three witnesses, including the case’s IO, the ballistics expert and the police official who made the recovery of weapon.

On the other hand, Advocate Mohammad Jiwani, defence counsel for Saad Aziz, had opposed the plea arguing that the prosecution had failed to put up enough material to assign the role of his client to the commission of the alleged offence. He further argued that the prosecution had named a dozen witnesses, whose evidence had already been recorded during the trial. Therefore, he said the prosecution was trying to hush up the lacunae in the case by putting up more witnesses and pleaded to dismiss the plea.

Aziz, a business graduate from a prestigious Karachi institution, along with his other accomplices were handed over to military authorities in January 2016 to face trial before military courts in 18 cases, including Safoora Goth bus carnage, murder of Sabeen Mahmud, killing of policemen, attempted murder and carrying explosive substances and illicit weapons. The military court had sentenced Saad Aziz, Tahir Minhas, Asadur Rehman, Mohammad Azhar Ishrat and Hafiz Nasir Ahmed to death in May 2016 in these cases.

Later, the convicts were handed back to jail authorities to face trial in other cases pending before the antiterrorism courts.

Source: Dawn News