Arrest warrant issued for prime suspect’s brother in TV anchor murder case
KARACHI: An antiterrorism court on Monday issued arrest warrant for a brother of the alleged prime suspect in a case pertaining to the murder of TV anchor Mureed Abbas and another man over a financial dispute.
Atif Zaman, the alleged mastermind of the shady investments scam, has been detained and booked for allegedly shooting to death his business partners — Mureed Abbas and Khizar Hayat — in the Khayaban-i-Bukhari area, within the limits of the Darakhshan police station, on the night of July 9.
On Monday, the matter came up before ATC-I, which is conducting trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, when Atif Zaman was produced from prison.
The judge directed the prosecution to provide copies of the documentary evidence to his defence counsel under Section 265-C of the Criminal Procedure Code.
Mureed Abbas and Khizar Hayat were shot dead in Defence on the night of July 9
The judge also issued arrest warrant for absconding suspect Adil Zaman, Atif’s brother, and directed the investigating officer of the case to arrest and produce him on the next date of hearing. The matter was fixed on Sept 2.
On Aug 20, a judicial magistrate had transferred the case to the antiterrorism court for trial since the investigation report incorporated the charge of terrorism and recommended trial by an ATC.
In the investigation report, IO Atiqur Rehman mentioned that suspect Atif was employed in a company’s recovery department and earned between Rs10,000 and Rs15,000 per month, but he posed himself as an investor in the business of sale and purchase of tyres.
It said that the suspect started the business with Rs600,000, which he deceitfully received from one Humayun, and then started cheating the public at large.
During the course of investigation, the report said, it transpired that the suspect minted around Rs390 million from different people and several people who invested their money also approached the police.
The report said that Atif killed Abbas when the latter asked him to return his investment. The call data record (CDR) also suggested that the suspect called Hayat and Abbas on the pretext of returning their money, but killed them, it added.
The report further said that Atif first killed Hayat at the business place in the commercial area, then he killed Abbas in a residential area and brandished a gun, scaring some residents so much that they shifted their children to other places.
The IO stated that he visited the places of incidents, recorded statements of witnesses, who were still terrified, and collected other evidence.
Both the murders were committed at a short distance of 500 yards within a span of around five minutes and later Atif also shot himself in an attempt to end his life, the report stated.
It added that the incidents sparked a sense of fear and terror in residents of the area. Therefore, the present case attracted Section 7 of the ATA and the terrorism charge had also been added to the arms case against Atif, it said.
The report also mentioned that suspect Atif’s brother Adil was also present with him at the time of the murders.
Two cases were registered against him at the Darakhshan police station — one under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the ATA, 1997 on a complaint of Mureed Abbas’s wife and the other for attempting to commit suicide. Separately, police have also lodged an arms case against him.
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