Court dismisses bail plea of accused in would-be groom’s murder case

A model court on Saturday dismissed an application of an accused seeking post-arrest bail in a murder case.

Usama was found murdered within the jurisdiction of the Awami Colony police station on January 20, two days before his scheduled marriage.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Abdul Zahoor Chandio of the Model Criminal Trial Court (East) dismissed the bail plea of accused Abad after hearing arguments from both defence and prosecution sides.

The judge noted that though the accused was not nominated in the FIR of the murder, he was implicated during investigations with the specific role of abetment and conspiring with main accused Talha to commit the crime. As per CDR, he said the accused remained in contact with Talha and as per investigation they both hatched conspiracy to murder Usama as they had relations with two girls, which became a bone of contention between them.

The judge remarked that the complainant’s no-objection affidavit carried no weight as he was not the sole legal heir of the deceased.

“Prima facie reasonable grounds do exist to believe that the present accused is involved in commission of offence, until proven otherwise in evidence which is yet not recorded as the IO has yet not submitted the final charge sheet,” he said.

The applicant’s lawyer argued that the FIR had been lodged against Talha and during investigation his client was arrested despite the fact that the complainant stated before the investigating officer that accused Abad had no nexus with the murder of his son as he was on his duty at the time of the incident.

The counsel said that there was no direct or indirect evidence against the accused and nothing incriminating was recovered from his possession at the time of his arrest. He added that the applicant had not been nominated in the FIR nor had the IO specified his role in the commissioning of the alleged offence as he has been implicated on the basis of statement of the co-accused, which is inadmissible under the law.

State prosecutor Muhammad Ashraf Bhatti argued that though the applicant was not nominated in the FIR, he was implicated in this case during investigation and specific role has been assigned to him as abettor. He argued that the accused was in contact with the main accused Talha as per the Call Data Record and as per the investigation they both conspired to eliminate Usama because they both had relations with two girls, and over the said issue of girls, the dispute arose between the victim and the accused.

He argued that it was a well-settled law that a compromise or the filing of a no-objection affidavit cannot be considered the sole ground to grant bail in cases which entail capital punishment, requesting the judge to dismiss his bail.

According to the prosecution, on the evening of January 19, Usama was preparing for his marriage ceremony when his friend, Talha, arrived and took him away in his car ostensibly for some urgent matter. His father Muhammad Javed tried to contact him on his cell phone but found it switched off. Usama’s whereabouts were unknown despite efforts to trace him.

Next day, Javed received the distressing news about an unknown person’s body found near Darul Uloom, Karachi, who was later identified as his son Usama. Subsequently, he lodged a murder FIR against Talha and other unidentified persons for allegedly murdering his son.