Mureed Abbas murder case: Court issues non-bailable arrest warrants of Adil Zaman

KARACHI: The prime suspect in anchorperson Mureed Abbas murder case, Atif Zaman, has been produced before the additional district and sessions’ judge by jail officials in Karachi today, ARY News reported on Saturday.

During the hearing, the investigation officer apprised the court that brother of the prime suspectm Adil Zaman, is absconding and went into hiding after the cancellation of his bail by the Supreme Court (SC).

Later, the court issued non-bailable arrest warrants of Adil Zaman and ordered concerned authorities to produce him in the next hearing on October 10. The judge also issued notice to the guarantor of Adil Zaman.

Read: Mureed Abbas murder: co-accused flees from SC after bail cancellation

Earlier on Friday, the Supreme Court (SC) Karachi Registry had released the verdict regarding the cancellation of bail of an accused Adil Zaman in Mureed Abbas murder case.

The apex court had stated in its verdict that Adil Zaman was present alongside Khizer Hayat and Atif Zaman on the crime scene in accordance with the statements of eyewitnesses including Umar Rehan and Usama. Moreover, the witnesses had also identified Adil.

It added that the records have proven that weapon used to murder Mureed Abbas was also belonging to Adil. The evidence against Adil Zaman as co-suspect in the murder case were enough, however, the matters should be separately dealt for misuse of his release on bail and the presence of solid evidence.

The Supreme Court (SC) stated that the observation of the Sindh High Court (SHC) was contrary to the available evidence as important facts were neglected while approving Adil’s bail. Later, the top court annulled the SHC’s order for awarding bail to Adil Zaman and ordered trial court for announcing the verdict in the case.

Read: Mureed Abbas murder: SC releases verdict regarding bail cancellation of Adil Zaman

On September 10, a three-judge bench, hearing a plea seeking the cancellation of Adil’s bail at the SC’s Karachi registry, had ordered police to arrest the accused and send him behind bars at once.

The Supreme Court had revoked the bail granted to Adil Zaman, the co-accused in anchorperson Mureed Abbas’ murder case. The accused, who was present on the court premises, had managed to escape after the cancellation of his bail.

On July 9, 2019, Atif had gunned down TV anchorperson Mureed Abbas, 34 and Khizar Hayat, 45 over a monetary dispute in Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and then attempted suicide.

An anti-terrorism court had on Sept 30 dropped terrorism charges in the case and had sent the case back to a sessions court to conduct a trial of accused Atif Zaman on charges of killing his two business partners.