KARACHI, Oct 21 Four prosecution witnesses on Tuesday testified in an anti-terrorism court in a kidnapping for ransom and murder case in which the five-year-old kidnap victim was released but his driver was killed.

Judicial magistrate Asif Ahmed Memon, MLO Dr Jagdesh and two eyewitnesses Dr Amir and Imran Ahmed Qazi appeared before judge Hasan Ali Bukhari of ATC-I, who is conducting the trial, and testified.

The accused - Nisar Ahmed, Shahzad Masih and Munir Masih - were indicted on Aug 16. They, however, pleaded not guilty and opted to contest the case.

The judicial magistrate told the court that he had conducted the identification parade of the accused, in which the two eyewitnesses had identified them. Dr Jagdesh of the Civil Hospital, who had conducted the autopsy on the deceased's body, said he was on duty when the victim was brought to the hospital and confirmed that the deceased had died from gunshot wounds.

Dr Amir and Imran Ahmed Qazi said in their statements recorded by the court that they had seen the accused kidnapping the victims and taking away their vehicle.

The prosecution said the accused kidnapped five-year-old Mohammad Rehan and driver Irfan in their vehicle on Oct 2, 2007 in the limits of the Frere police station and demanded a ransom of Rs500,000.

Later, after receiving the money, they released the boy but allegedly killed the driver.

The police found the driver's body and the vehicle near the Baloch Colony bridge on Oct 3, 2007. The Anti-Violent Crime Unit arrested the accused on Oct 10, 2007.

A case (FIR No 222/07) was registered under sections 365-A and 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code against the accused on the complaint of Shahid.

The court fixed Oct 23 as the next date of hearing.

Meanwhile, two prosecution witnesses testified in the same court in a kidnapping for ransom case.

Inspector Tasawwar Ameer and sub-inspector Mohammad Ali recorded their statements and provided the data of the accused and the victim's cellphones.

The accused - Manzar Khan, Jalal Khan, Maqbool Ahmed and Habib-ur-Rahman - were charged with kidnapping Jalaluddin on March 2007 in the limits of the Korangi Industrial Area police station.

The hearing was adjourned till Oct 23.

Remand extended

A civil judge and judicial magistrate (south) on Tuesday extended the physical remand of a woman and her associate till Oct 27 for their alleged involvement in a murder case.

The police had arrested Sumera Perveen and Mohammad Adeel on charges of killing Mohammad Asif, a Dubai-based trader, in his rented home in the Darakhshan police station limits on Oct 11.The police had arrested the suspects on Oct 12.

The prosecution said the suspects, stated to be the victim's friends, visited the house of the deceased in Defence Housing Authority on the evening of Oct 11 and allegedly killed him.

A case (FIR 478/2008) was registered against the suspects under Section 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Mohammad Munir.

Meanwhile, the administrative judge of the anti-terrorism courts, Karachi, Justice Khwaja Naveed, on Tuesday remanded a suspect in police custody till Oct 30 on charges of kidnapping and killing a friend of his.

According to the prosecution, suspect Faheem had called his friend Saeed Ali from Landhi on Oct 13 and detained him. Later, he reportedly collected a ransom of Rs3 million from the victim's family, but allegedly killed the victim. The police registered a case against the suspect on the complaint of the deceased's father, Fahad Ali, and later arrested him.