The Sindh High Court has dismissed the bail application of two men in a doctor murder case. The applicants, Asif Gul Masih and Syed Abu Bakar Shah, were arrested in connection with the murder of a doctor.
According to the prosecution, the applicants and others were involved in the kidnapping and murder of Dr Syed Raham Ali on July 6, 2023. The prosecution alleged that the deceased man was lured through an accused, Sania, who in her confessional statement recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) admitted that she entrapped the deceased via a dating application and later handed him over to Shahnawaz and 15 others, including applicant Bakar.
The prosecution alleged that the deceased was maltreated during the captivity and died as a consequence. It added that the other applicant, Asif, received the body from Shahnawaz and others and, along with his wife Nusrat Kanwal, transported it in his ambulance to the Civil Hospital Karachi and absconded after leaving the body.
A counsel for Asif stated that he had been falsely implicated in the case and had not been attributed the role of beating or maltreating the deceased. He said that there was no direct evidence, including CCTV footage, conclusively showing him shifting the body.
A counsel for Bakar contended that the confessional statements of the co-accused were inadmissible under the Articles 38 and 39 of the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order 1984 and there was no CCTV footage from the bank showing the applicant was attempting withdrawal and that the exculpatory statement recorded under the Section 164 of the CrPC did not assign any specific incriminating role to him.
An additional prosecutor general and the complainant’s counsel opposed the bail applications, arguing that the role of both the applicants was distinguishable from those of the co-accused who had been granted bail. They said that Asif, along with his wife, actively participated in concealing the crime by taking the body to the hospital and abandoning it there, and this act was corroborated through unedited CCTV footage, duly verified by the Punjab Forensic Science Agency.
Regarding Bakar, they said that investigation had revealed that the deceased’s ATM card was used for withdrawal of cash, and that no malice or animosity against him by the complainant or investigating agency had been shown.
A single bench of the SHC comprising Justice Khalid Hussain Shahani after hearing the arguments of the counsel observed that the roles of both the applicants were conjectured with the tangible evidence and they were alleged to have acted in furtherance of common intention along with the principal offenders, culminating in the death of an innocent person.
The high court observed that the allegations against the present applicants were supported by documentary evidence, forensic analysis, CCTV footage and witness statements and their roles were active, distinct and dissimilar to those of the co-accused who had been enlarged on bail.
The SHC observed that prima facie, the applicants had failed to make out case for further inquiry and dismissed their bail applications. The high court also took exception to the conduct of the investigation officer (IO) and observed that SIP Ghulam Shabbir Dahri had grossly failed to perform his legal duties. The bench observed that the IO did not secure vital pieces of evidence, such as the recovery and record of the ambulance used in the offence, its ownership details, ownership and occupancy record of the premises where the deceased was confined, employment records of co-accused Nusrat from the Jinnah Hospital, call detail records (CDRs) of all accused persons, inactions in inserting the penal provisions and other substantial documentary and forensic materials that were readily accessible during the course of investigation.
The SHC observed that such serious lapses had undermined the investigation’s integrity and directed the Sindh inspector general of police to initiate stern departmental action against the investigation officer.
Published in News Daily on 05-May-2025.