An anti-terrorism court has acquitted two men, said to be associated with the proscribed Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army (SRA), for lack of evidence in cases pertaining to possession of explosive material.
Muhammad Sabir and Nadeem Ali Mugheri were arrested and booked by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) after they were allegedly caught in possession of two hand grenades within the jurisdiction of the Kalri police station in May 2022.
The ATC-XVI judge, who conducted the trial in the judicial complex inside the central jail, announced his judgement after recording evidence and final arguments from defence and prosecution sides. He ruled that the prosecution failed to prove its case against both the accused.
The judge ordered the jail authorities to release them forthwith if they were not required in any other case. According to the prosecution, on May 19, 2022, the CTD had received a tip-off that a fleeing accomplice of two suspected SRA militants who were allegedly involved in the May 12 Saddar IED blast and killed in an encounter with the police, was present along with another terror suspect at a roadside hotel on Mauripur Road. Subsequently, a CTD team reached the spot and took them into custody. Two hand grenades were seized from the possession of Sabir and Nadeem.
Defence lawyer Haider Farooq Jatoi contended that the two men were picked up by the CTD from outside a factory where they worked on May 16, 2022 three days before the CTD claimed to have arrested them. He said the accused were innocent and had been framed in the present cases by the police.
The investigating officer, Chaudhry Ghulam Safdar, claimed that the call detail record (CDR) of Sabir’s mobile phone revealed his alleged contacts with Dubai-based SRA handlers, but he failed to produce any evidence to corroborate the charge, the counsel said, pleading with the court to acquit the accused for lack of evidence.
Two cases were lodged by the CTD under sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act 1908 read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.
