Local court acquits Majeed Achakzai in vehicle tampering case

QUETTA: A judicial magistrate on Saturday acquitted MPA Majeed Khan Achakzai in a vehicle tampering case in connection with a hit-and-run incident that claimed the life of a traffic sergeant in Quetta.

The MPA of Balochistan assembly was acquitted by judicial magistrate Muhammad Iqbal Khilji. However, a hit-and-run case against him registered under Section 322 (punishment for murder) at an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) is still ongoing.

During the ATC proceedings today, Achakzai’s counsel contended that a traffic accident could not be deemed as a terrorist act, adding, the terrorism charge against his client has been challenged in a high court.

Achakzai has been booked for fatally running over a traffic sub-inspector Haji Attaullah on June 20 this year near GPO Chowk in Balochistan provincial capital Quetta.

The MPA is currently in police custody in two cases, another relating to attempted murder in 1992.

The CCTV footage of the incident went viral on social media, sparking a campaign demanding the arrest of the legislator after which Achakzai was arrested on June 24.

According to police, traffic sergeant Attaullah died after hit by a rashly driven land cruiser on June 20 while he was performing his duty at the GPO Chowk on Zarghoon Road.

Later, yet another case pertaining to a kidnapping was reopened against him, which was registered at the Satellite Town police station back in 2009.

Majeed Khan Achakzai is a close relative of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai.  He was elected from the PB-13 constituency in Qilla Abdullah.