Rangers men fail to arrange counsel

KARACHI: The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Thursday directed four Rangers personnel facing Sarfaraz Shah's extrajudicial murder charges to arrange counsel for their defence, Geo News reported.

Judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso told the alleged that if they do not arrange the counsel by tomorrow then the government counsel would be provided and proceedings into the case would begin the same day.

One of the defence lawyers pleaded to adjourn the hearing for seven days on this pretext but the court rejected the request.

Rangers Sub-Inspector Bahaur Rehman, Lance Naik Liaquat Ali, constables Mohammad Tariq, Minthar Ali, Shahid Zafar, Mohammad Afzal and private contractor Afsar Khan have been put on trial for murdering 22-year-old Sarfaraz Shah with their common intention in the Clifton area on June 8.

Shah, a brother of a local TV journalist, was killed in cold blood in a public park by the Rangers personnel after he was handed over to them by the private contractor, Afsar Khan, accusing him of committing theft and looting. However, TV footage of Shah's killing showed that the Rangers personnel shot the unarmed Shah twice and after injuring him seriously they watched him bleed to death instead of shifting him to hospital for medical treatment.

The Rangers personnel and the private contractor were arrested under the anti-terrorism law and murder charges under the Pakistan Penal Code after the Supreme Court took suo moto notice of the brutal murder in the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Park.

The case has been registered against the accused by the Boat Basin police under sections 302, 34 and 36 of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

The police have charge-sheeted the Rangers men and the private contractor for deliberately murdering Shah, submitting that the accused first caused injuries to Shah with their common intention and by the act of commission of omission they denied medical treatment to him, and he succumbed to his injuries due to excessive bleeding and lack of medical care. The prosecution has named 46 witnesses, including two eyewitnesses, in the charge sheet in addition to a list of 14 articles, including the crime weapon, to prove the guilt of the accused.