Omar Sheikh surrendered to police, says witness
HYDERABAD- The first defence witness in Daniel Pearl case, District and Sessions Judge, Muzaffargarh, Raoof Sheikh, who is the maternal uncle of the principal accused Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, here on Thursday told the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) that he did not have any documentary evidence to prove that he had produced Omar Sheikh to Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Lahore police, on Feb 5.
He, however, claimed that Omar Sheikh surrendered before the DIG through him and his father, Ahmed Saeed Sheikh.
The case was adjourned to Friday when the ATC will record testimony of Ahmed Saeed Sheikh.
Senior defence counsel, Abdul Waheed Katpar, had told the court that he would produce two defence witness, Rauf Sheikh and Ahmed Saeed Sheikh, to prove that his client had surrendered to police on Feb 5 in Lahore. He had disputed the prosecution’s claim that Omar Sheikh was arrested on Feb 13 near the outer signal of Karachi Airport.
Advocate General (AG) Sindh, Raja Qureshi, who is the chief prosecutor of the case, told journalists that Raoof Sheikh told the ATC judge that since the family and relatives of Omar Sheikh were being harassed by police, he surrendered to the police.
Following his statement the witness was subjected to cross- examination by the Sindh AG.
The AG said that in response to a question whether he possessed any documentary evidence to substantiate his claim that Omar Sheikh had surrendered before the DIG, Lahore, Javed Qureshi, through him, the defence witness replied in negative.
To another query whether he informed the chief justice of Lahore or some other higher authority about the harassment of Omar Sheikh’s family by police, the witness again replied in negative.
Rauf Sheikh took a plea that since it was a holiday on Feb 5, he could not tell the chief justice that he was producing his nephew before the DIG, Lahore. He added that he did not inform the chief justice about it even later.
He said that the family of Omar Sheikh did not move the Lahore High Court against alleged police harassment.
When the defence witness was asked whether he knew that Omar Sheikh was handed over by India on demands of the hijackers, who had hijacked an Indian Airline aeroplane from Katmandu and brought it to Kabul in Afghanistan, he replied in affirmative.
Referring to the question of protective custody, the defence witness claimed that there was no provision in law about protective custody.
Source: Dawn
Date:6/28/2002
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