Mustafa Kanju along with five other acquitted in Zain murder case
Anti-terrorism court acquitted five accused including Mustafa Kanju, son of former state minister Sadique Kanju and his guards namely Ikramullah, Asif, Saifullah and Sadiq. As per the court ruling there was no ‘solid’ evidence against them as all the 13 prosecution witnesses had retracted from their prior statements. They had refused to identify the suspects. One of the key witnesses in the case was uncle of the deceased who was also the complainant of the FIR.
The deceased was a student of grade 9 and the only son of his widow mother. He was shot while driving his bike to buy milk from the nearby market. According to the details, Kanju got into a fight with driver of another car after the vehicles collided and in a state of anger resorted to indiscriminate firing. As a result, Zain, 17, a resident of Street 11 of Cavalry Ground and his friend Husnain, both pedestrians, fell victims to the firing. They were rushed to Services Hospital where Zain died.
According to the Defence counsel, his client was being dragged in the case as a result of political victimization and he had nothing to do with the murder case.
The court accepted the Defence application under 265 K of Criminal Procedure Code (CPC). Under this law, the court can acquit the accused before the trial concludes if there is a lack of evidence against him.
