KARACHI: A sessions court was informed on Monday by the investigating officer (IO) of the case that a CCTV (close circuit television) recording of the Karsaz accident case was being sent to Punjab for forensic investigation.
After driving her Toyota Land Cruiser carelessly on August 19, killing Imran Arif, 60, and his daughter Amna, 22, and injuring three others, suspect Natasha Danish has been detained.
On Monday, the suspect, Natasha, appeared in court via a video link from the Central Prison for Women in Karachi, while the IO appeared before Judicial Magistrate (East) Muhammad Raza Ansari.
The defense team filed an application under Section 540 of the CrPC earlier in the day, and the court granted it. The request sought a one-day exemption from the suspect’s in-person appearance in court. Muhammad Younus, the deputy district prosecutor for the East, said Dawn that “security concerns” may have played a role in the exemption’s granting.
IO said the UK High Commission got in touch to confirm the driver’s license of the suspect.
The Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1965’s Section 100—driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs—had been added in the FIR, the IO notified the court during the hearing.
He added that Punjab had received the CCTV footage of the incident for forensic examination.
Because the provincial labs lacked advanced technology, officials stated that the film was routinely forwarded by the Sindh police to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency.
In addition, a letter confirming Natasha’s UK driver’s license has been sent to the UK High Commission.
The IO further stated that letters regarding the damage to public property had been issued to the local union council and the traffic DIG, and their responses were still pending.
The IO told the court that Abdul Salam’s condition had improved and gave specifics about the injuries he had received when the court asked how the injured parties, including him, were doing.
The IO stated that the answers to the letters were still waiting and asked the court for an extension of 14 days to submit the interim challan.
The court heard the IO, gave him three days, and ordered him to turn in the interim challan by September 5.
Another suspect held, remanded in rape case
On Monday, a judicial magistrate placed an additional suspect under police remand in connection with an alleged gang rape and little girl’s murder.
The police reported that during a “encounter,” the suspect was taken into custody while injured.
South-DIG Syed Asad Raza informed Dawn that the suspect was connected to the recent rape-murder of a 12-year-old girl, the body of which was found in a gunny bag inside a trash dump close to Lucky Star in Saddar.
The IO told the court that the suspect was apprehended by the police after an intelligence-gathering operation, and that the suspect admitted to strangling the girl with a piece of fabric upon being questioned.
The suspect was placed under one-day police detention after the court heard the IO’s presentation, and the IO was instructed to bring the suspect in on Tuesday (today).
