KARACHI: The man alleged to have opened fire at former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram following a minor accident was granted protective bail by a local court on Monday. The driver of the vehicle, however, was sent on physical remand till August 17 by a judicial magistrate. Major (Retd) Amirur Rehman, the owner of the vehicle who is manager at a local security company, was granted pre-arrest bail by district and sessions judge Nadeem Ahmed Khan on a surety bond of Rs30,000. Driver Altaf Ahmed was handed over to Bahadurabad police officials on a seven-day physical remand by Judicial Magistrate (East) Kaneez Fatima. Ahmed was arrested from his residence in Quaidabad on August 8. Rehman while appearing for his bail application claimed the car at the time of the accident was being driven by his driver and that he was ‘unaware’ that his driver had hit Akram’s car. He claimed that it was his driver who had argued with Wasim. But the driver informed the investigators that he was not responsible for the incident as the shot was fired by Rehman. The incident took place on August 5 after Akram’s car was hit by a vehicle near Karsaz. Following a heated discussion, Rehman who was sitting in the back of his car stepped out of the vehicle and allegedly fired a shot at the cricketer’s car. However, he hurriedly left after a crowd began to gather around. DIG East Munir Ahmed Shaikh had on Saturday claimed to have identified the main suspect in the case but refrained from disclosing his identity. The vehicle bearing number AEJ-061 was impounded on Saturday.
