KARACHI, Jan 24: An anti-terrorism court on Monday sentenced two policemen to seven years' imprisonment for robbery. Judge Rahmat Hussain Jafferi sentenced Mohammed Sabir and Mohammed Asghar for snatching a Suzuki pickup
and cash from the employees of a medicine distribution firm in Gulshan-i-Iqbal last year.
Both the cops were tried in two different cases of robbery and vehicle snatching in the police limits of North Nazimabad and Gulshan-i-Iqbal. The judge, however, acquitted Mohammed Asghar in one of the cases.
According to the prosecution, the two cops intercepted a Suzuki pickup (KE-6370), laden with medicines worth Rs38,779, held its driver, Mohammed Sajid, and salesman, Mohammed Imran Rafiq, as hostage at gunpoint at about 10:30am on Oct 29 in front of Ziauddin Hospital in North Nazimabad. They took away the vehicle along with the salesman, who was pushed out of the pickup after being deprived of Rs5,000 by his captors.
At about 12:45-noon the accused snatched another vehicle (KF-2034) from Syed Shakir at gunpoint.
Both the accused denied the charges and said they were booked in the case after they had an altercation with a police party.
The two were, however, identified by Imran and Sajid before a judicial magistrate during identification parade. The prosecution produced eight witnesses each in the two cases.
Driver Sajid deposed that he along with salesman Imran reached Ziauddin Hospital at about 10am. He stated that the salesman went inside the hospital to deliver medicines and he sat in the vehicle waiting for him. He said the accused held them as hostage at gunpoint as the salesman returned and occupied his seat. Then the accused dragged him out of the vehicle and took away the pickup along with the salesman.
The judge imposed a fine of Rs10,000 on both the convicts for the offence they had committed in Gulshan-i-Iqbal. They will have to undergo an additional 18 months' imprisonment in case they fail to pay the fine.
The judge, however, acquitted Mohammed Asghar in the North Nazimabad case, and sentenced Mohammed Sabir to seven years' imprisonment. The court also ordered him to pay a fine of Rs10,000 and in case of non-payment he would have to undergo an additional 18-month prison term.
JUDGMENT RESERVED: An anti-terrorism court on Monday reserved judgment in a case of the killing of a rangers personnel till Jan 28 after hearing the final arguments from both the prosecution and defence sides.
Taha Hussain, an adolescent worker of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, has been prosecuted under Sindh Children Act for the murder of sepoy Dildar Hussain.
The ranger personnel had been killed on July 21, 1998, when a vehicle of the law-enforcement agency was fired upon near Hashmia Imambargah in Liaquatabad. Another sepoy, Mumtaz Ali, was injured in the attack.
Earlier, the ATC had sentenced four workers of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, including Junaid Ahmed alias Junaid K-2, to death. The trial of Taha Hussain was separated as he was under age. However, the Sindh High Court later set aside the ATC judgment and reduced the sentence of Junaid and acquitted the remaining three.
The prosecution, represented by a public prosecutor, produced in all 12 witnesses, including six eyewitnesses, against the Muttahida worker, who denied the charges and pleaded that he had been implicated in the case merely for his political affiliation.
ACQUITTED: A man, charged with the smuggling of 26,000 kilograms of charas, was acquitted on Monday by special customs and taxation judge Sadiq Leghari.
M. Ilyas Khan and Shaukat Hiyat appeared on behalf of Khuda Bux, the accused, who was arrested on July 13, 1999.
The case was registered on March 3, 1990 following the huge recovery of the contraband in a launch in the open seas by the customs authorities.
The judge acquitted the man of all charges as the prosecution failed to establish its case against the accused.
Woman strangled by husband, 11 vehicles taken away
KARACHI: A young woman
was strangulated by her husband in Jauharabad on Monday.
Abida Bano, 25, was strangulated by her husband Yousuf
Masih after a quarrel at their house in Block 15,
Jauharabad. He fled after locking the main entrance.
According to the police
the house owner Basharat informed the police that his
tenant Yousuf left along with his suitcases after locking
the door and his wife was still inside. The police broke
down the door and recovered Abida's body, which was
shifted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
BODY FOUND: The body of
Afzal, 28, was found from his residence near Shahi Masjid
in SITE police jurisdiction. The police shifted the body
to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where the MLO said that the
accused first strangulated and then shot the victim.
According to the police,
Afzal's cousin Muhammad Siddique informed them about the
body. They claimed that the murder took place due to an
old enmity.
ACCIDENTS: An
unidentified 60-year-old man was knocked down to death by
a speeding hit-and-run vehicle at Sabzi Mandi in PIB
Colony police area, while he was crossing the road.
Tariq Ali and Maskeen
Khan were injured when their speeding Suzuki pick-up
overturned on National Highway.
SUICIDE: Mazhar Hussain,
45, after a quarrel with his pregnant wife, locked
himself in a room and hanged himself to death from a
ceiling fan. His body was shifted to Abbasi Shaheed
Hospital for autopsy.
According to the police,
the deceased was jobless for the last several months and
nowadays he was depressed. He committed suicide after a
quarrel with his wife.
ROBBERIES: Four armed
men barged into the residence of M M Hussain in
Gulshan-e-Iqbal and locked all the inmates in a room.
They fled after collecting Rs 250,000, jewellery worth Rs
1,600,000, prize bonds worth Rs 250,000 and other
valuables.
Bandits took away Rs
41,000, $1,600, gold ornaments, electrical appliances and
a car (S-8852) from the residence of Muhammad Irfan in
Nazimabad; cash, jewellery and other valuables from the
house of Abdul Ghaffar in Shahrae Noorjahan; Rs 50,000
from Jameel in Napier; cash, gold ornaments and
electrical appliances from the residence of Sajjad Dara
in Saddar.
Carjackers snatched
three cars, one Suzuki pick-up and seven motorcycles from
the various parts of the city, while the police claimed
that they recovered three cars and two motorcycles.
BOMB HOAX: Bomb hoax
calls caused a scare and panic among the staff members
and students of Aga Khan Foundation School in Karimabad.
According to details, an
anonymous call was received by one of the staff members
of the school located in the Azizabad police limits,
warning that a bomb had been planted and it would go off
any time.
The bomb disposal squad,
Edhi ambulances and fire tenders were immediately rushed
and the building was vacated. The bomb disposal squad,
after a through search, found that it was a hoax call.
Downsizing exercise: 1,150 KDA men being transferred
KARACHI, Jan 24: A list of more than 1,150 officers and employees of the Karachi Development Authority had been finalized for transfer and posting in the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, Lyari Development Authority, Malir Development Authority and Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, as part of measures for downsizing the KDA, sources told to PPI on Monday.
Sources in the KDA said the transfer and posting of officers and employees, expected to take place from next month, was due to "overstaffing and because no development work is being carried out by the Authority. In addition, the KDA has facing financial crunch for the past many years."
They said 400 officers and employees would be sent to the LDA, 200 to the MDA, 550 others to the KMC and the remaining ones to the KWSB.
A proposal for merging the KDA, the LDA and the MDA has now been dropped following the finalization of a list of KDA employees for transfer and posting.
The sources said the KDA pipe factory employees were not included in the said list, as it had been decided to privatize the KDA pipe factory.
The decision has caused panic and anger among the KDA officers and employees, and they are reportedly feeling dejected. Their future is uncertain as the LDA and MDA have no sanctioned posts nor they have finances to pay their salaries.-PPI
NED facing problems in hiring qualified people
KARACHI, Jan 24: The NED University of Engineering and Technology is finding it very difficult to hire individuals with the prescribed qualifications who could join it as faculty members.
Doctorate degree holders are just not available for recruitment in the electrical, computer systems and electronic engineering disciplines.
None of the individuals who sent applications to the university in response to a recent advertisement for the positions of professors and associate professors met all the requirements prescribed by the University Grants Commission, said the NED's acting vice chancellor on Monday. He was delivering the VC's report at the eighth convocation of the university. The assembly was presided over by Sindh education minister Prof Anita Ghulam Ali, and federal education minister Zobaida Jalal was the chief guest.
"This university which has been managing on 'ad hoc' appointments for nearly two years, received only nine applications for professors and 27 for associate professors in response to its advertisements," said Prof Fahim Ahsan. "Not one of these thirty six applications, however, fulfilled all the requirements of the University Grants Commission i.e. doctorate degrees and research papers published in internationally-accepted journals."
He said individuals with PhDs in electrical, computer systems and electronic engineering disciplines were simply not available. "In new disciplines being established such as textile and environmental engineering the situation is even more alarming because there is not even one individual with bachelor's degree registered with Pakistan Engineering Council anywhere in Pakistan," he said.
In marked contrast to the shortage in the higher echelons there is no shortage of assistant professors and there is a surplus of applicants for the junior positions like lecturers, said Prof Fahim.
Speaking about the requirements prescribed by the UGC for the senior positions, he said: "This university has been constrained to re-examine whether the prescriptions of the University Grants Commission, which does not have any expertise in engineering, is really aware of the needs of the engineering universities." Whether there should be single-profession universities is in itself debatable, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, the pro-chancellor of the university and provincial education minister, Prof Anita Ghulam Ali, presented a message of the chancellor, Sindh Governor M. Azim Daudpota, who urged the universities and industrial groups to launch joint research programmes to raise the academic standards.
Prof Anita, in her own speech, stated that the government's attitude towards education and educational issues had changed for the better. She said the industry must buy the local software instead of patronizing foreign but inferior brands.
She informed those present that the provincial education department was looking into a proposal under which a youth force would be created. The members of the force, called the "Sindh Youth Service Corps", would be undertaking social-welfare projects.
Prof Anita asked the NED's vice chancellor to form a committee to look into the proposal. She also urged him to send suggestions and to nominate a sizable number of students for the campaign. She recalled how the students of NED had rebuilt a government-run school in Karachi.
"We need you. We beg you to come and help us," she said to the students.
In her speech, the federal education minister, Zobaida Jalal, said if the nation wanted to be counted among the respected of the world it would have to excel in science and technology sectors, the two agents of change, the two instruments of respect.
She said that at present the Muslim World had the lowest number of science technology manpower in the world, which is liberally estimated at around 8 million. "On the higher research and development side, the figure gets a further dip," she said.
"A recent study reveals that there are only about 4,500 scientists and engineers working in all the Muslim countries combined, compared with 35,000 in Israel alone, or 400,000 in Japan. Today almost 94 per cent of all the R & D scientists are working for the developed world, where there are 3,000 scientists for every million people.
"For the Muslim World, the figure is less than 100 per million... . How unfortunate it is to note that today, the Islamic World has only one scientist per thousand of population against 100 in the former USSR, 50 in western Europe and the world average of 4," said Ms Jalal.
"On the other hand, of the estimated one hundred thousand scientific books and over two million articles produced in the world every year, the share of all Muslim countries taken together is only about a thousand publications, most of them published in Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and the Central Asian Republics.