Police fail to submit charge sheet against suspects

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday granted four more days to police to file the charge sheet against two suspects arrested for the murder of an intelligence official.

The ATC gave police until January 17 to file the challan against Muhammad Noman and Umer Farooq in the robbery-cum-murder case of Major Saqib Iqbal.

The court on a previous hearing had also granted more time to police after the investigation officer (IO) said they could not find sufficient evidence against the suspects in the murder case.

The suspects have been booked for murdering Major Iqbal during a mugging bid on MA Jinnah Road on June 6, 2019. The CCTV footage of the incident that went viral on social media showed a man attempting to snatch valuables from the victim and shooting him upon resistance.

According to police, the suspects had stopped their motorcycle a few yards away from the ATM the victim had gone to. One of them came to rob the major who resisted and tried to overpower the robber, prompting him to fire at him. The robbers fled after the incident. Another CCTV footage showed them driving towards the Tower area where they disappeared.

East DIG Amir Farooqi had said in a press conference that as the police further checked the availability of CCTV cameras, they found footage that helped them identify the man who had shot Major Iqbal.

The investigators used technical support to trace two mobile phone numbers that were registered in the names of the suspects, according to the DIG. The police later managed to identify the location of the two within the limits of the SITE Super Highway police station.

DIG Farooqi had said Noman was the one who had fired at Major Iqbal while Farooq was driving the motorcycle. Noman also admitted to making two to three street crime attempts a few years ago but managed to avoid arrest. The suspects previously used to work at the Karachi Port Trust.

However, the police have not been able to assert the same points in the court with proof as yet. Meanwhile, the suspects have already been indicted for possessing an illicit weapon but despite notices, no witnesses have been produced in court. The court has adjourned the weapons case until January 20, seeking the weapons allegedly recovered from the suspects.