Mother testifies in kidnap case
By Ishaq Tanoli
KARACHI, Jan 20: The mother of a five-year-old boy recalled the events of the kidnapping of her son and the driver when she testified before an Anti-Terrorism Court here on Tuesday.
The ATC Judge, Syed Hasan Shah Bukhari, was conducting the trial of a kidnapping for ransom and killing case against three accused, Nisar Ahmed, Shahzad Masih and Munir Masih, who were charged with kidnapping the minor boy, Mohammad Rehan, and his driver, Irfan, with their vehicle on Oct 2, 2007. After collecting the ransom, the accused released the boy but allegedly killed his driver.
Although, the court had already recorded the final arguments, it summoned the victim child’s mother on an application filed by the special public prosecutor, Mohammad Khan Buriro, under Section 540 of the criminal procedure code (power to summon material witness or examine persons present) requesting the court to examine the victim’s mother.
The mother of the kidnapped boy, Sadaf, appeared in court as a prosecution witness and narrated her ordeal. She said in her statement that on Oct 2, 2007 her driver went to pick her son from his school but did not return.
She said that she contacted the driver over the phone but it was attended by an unknown person who informed her that her son and the driver had been kidnapped. He demanded ransom for the release of her son and the driver.
She said the ransom amount was delivered to the kidnappers at a specified place in Manzoor Colony.
The mother testified that the kidnappers had released her son after collecting the ransom but neither freed the driver nor handed over the vehicle. However, the police found the driver’s body and the vehicle near the Baloch Colony bridge on the following morning. A case (FIR222/07) was registered under Sections 365-A and 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of a relative of the kidnapped boy. Later, on Oct 10, 2007 acting on a tip-off, a team of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell conducted a raid in the limits of the Mehmoodabad police station and arrested the accused.
The court adjourned the hearing till Jan 24. The special public prosecutor will argue on the next date of hearing.
Source: Dawn
Date:1/21/2009
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