KARACHI: A district and sessions court in Malir District on Tuesday ordered the transfer to an anti-terrorism court (ATC) of a case of murder of a young man which triggered a campaign for justice on social media platforms.
The body of Nazim Jokhio was found inside a Malir farmhouse in November. The victim had died apparently after being thrashed with sticks and punches in a scuffle.
Jokhio had stopped and filmed some foreigners while hunting rare houbara bustards in his native village in Thatta, according to the first information report (FIR) of the incident registered on the complaint of his brother Afzal Jokhio.
“MPA Jam Awais alias Gohram, along with Niaz Salar, Ahmed Shoro, Haider Ali and Mehr Ali, killed my brother by kicking and punching, and beating him with batons close to the gate of Jam House,” the FIR quoted Afzal as telling the police.
Jam Awais Khan Jokhio, a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MP, surrendered to the police days later after Jokhio’s relatives staged a sit-in on a highway.
Judicial Magistrate Altaf Hussain announced the verdict he had reserved on the charge sheet against the suspects, including two PPP lawmakers, in the case.
The magistrate accepted a petition moved by the complainant under Section 190 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), requesting the court to add terrorism charges in the police report.
The counsel for the complainant argued the offence was an act of terrorism and sought directives for the investigation officer to include Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, in the original complaint.
The investigation officer filed the charge sheet showing PPP MP Jam Abdul Karim Bijar as an absconder while his brother Awais and five other persons as suspects in custody.
