KARACHI, Nov 23: The driver of the van, which was used in the attack on the convoy of the then corps commander Karachi last year, identified on Wednesday three of the 11 workers of the banned Jundullah group being tried in the case by an anti-terrorism court.

Judge Feroze Mehmood Bhatti of the ATC-2 put off the hearing till Dec 1 after the deposition of Ghulam Rasool, who identified Uzair Ahmed, Shahzad Ahmed Bajwah and Najeebullah as snatchers of his vehicle (EE-9255).

According to prosecution, accused Najeebullah had booked the vehicle from its owner for picnic at Kalri Lake and had asked the owner to send the vehicle at a house in Federal B Area.

The driver stated that he, along with conductor Bakhtiar Khan, had reached the designated address at around 6am. However, he said, no one was available at that address and the three accused were standing there.

He said the accused held him and the conductor hostage at gunpoint and accused Uzair started driving the van. He said that on their way, accused Najeebullah administered an injection to the conductor and got him off the van a little before Jauhar Chowrangi in Gulishtan-i-Jauhar. He said Najeebullah then administered an injection to him and got him off the van a little after Jauhar Chowrangi. He said he fell unconscious and when he regained conscious, he saw the conductor coming to him.

The driver said he approached a police mobile van at a nearby hotel and told them about the incident. He said the police mobile took them to the Sharea Faisal police station where they gave their statements. The prosecution witness was also cross-examined by defence counsel M. R. Syed and Mushtaq Ahmed.

Ataur Rehman alias Ibrahim, Shahzad Ahmed Bajwah, Yaqoob Saeed, Uzair Ahmed, Shoaib Siddiqui, Danish Inam, Najeebullah, Khurrum Saifullah, Shahzad Mukhtar, Khalid Rao and Adnan Shah alias Tipu have been charged with a series of offences, including attack on the motorcade of Lt-Gen Ahsan Saleem Hayat on June 10 last year on the old Clifton bridge, which resulted in the death of six army personnel, three policemen and a passerby.

Mohammed Qasim, Maaz, Shahab, Bilal, Tayyeb, Hammad and Fasih have been declared absconders.

The prosecution, represented by Iqtidar Ali Hashmi and Maula Bux Bhatti, has so far examined 33 prosecution witnesses. The prosecution would examine the investigation officer of the case as last of its witnesses on the next date of hearing.