KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) ordered the release of a suspect in a case pertaining to the kidnap, abuse and murder of a 13-year-old schoolgirl after the investigators declared him clear in the charge sheet submitted before the court on Friday.
The girl was abducted from her school in Federal B Area on September 24 and she was found dead at the Sea View Beach on September 26. The ATC-II ordered to release the suspect, Shahid, after the investigation officer showed his name in the column two of the charge sheet with blue ink meaning no evidence was so far available against him. He could, however, be included in the case if any evidence is found against him in future. In the final investigation report, the officer charge sheeted the other three suspects on the basis of ocular and documentary evidence.
According to the police, a couple, Bilal and his wife Reema, along with two other suspects, Waqar and Shahid, had orchestrated the schoolgirl’s kidnap for ransom but subsequently killed her as the case had been reported and they feared the girl would disclose their identity to the police. In the remand papers and other documents submitted by the police in court earlier, the victim’s father had informed the police that his slain daughter had good relations with her cousin, Reema, who lived in Bilal Colony. An employee of the school had also said that a couple had taken away the victim from the school. The couple was arrested and on their indication, two others were also taken into custody.
According to the prosecution, the suspect, Waqar, was arrested on charges of making three ransom calls to the family of the victim while Shahid allegedly provided an unregistered SIM card in exchange for 25 per cent of the ransom amount. The police had arrested Waqar from Azizabad and Shahid from Quetta.
In the interim charge sheet, the police had also failed to collect any incriminating evidence against Shahid, who was initially believed to be the main suspect since the police had claimed that he was in love with the victim girl. The court adjourned the case till April 7.
