Court orders Mustafa Kanju's arrest in illegal arms case
LAHORE: A district and sessions court has ordered the arrest of Mustafa Kanju, son of former Minister of Foreign Affairs Siddique Kanju, in a case relating to possession of illegal arms, DawnNews reported on Thursday.
Kanju, who was the primary accused in the killing of 16-year-old orphan Zain in Lahore, was acquitted for the murder by an anti-terrorism court along with his four security guards for lack of evidence.
But police had also registered a case against him for possessing unlicensed arms – including AK-47s. Since being released by police after his acquittal in the Zain murder case, Kanju has been absent from hearings of the illegal arms case.
A judicial magistrate then issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for him, ordering police to present him in court on Jan 5, 2016.
Zain murder case
Mustafa Kanju was arrested in April this year and put on trial under section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code for killing 16-year-old Zain and injuring Husain, 18, in Cavalry Ground area of Lahore.
As per the prosecution, Kanju was allegedly drunk when his luxury car hit another car driven by a woman, who was never identified by the investigators. It said Kanju got infuriated and opened fire at his opponent party. However, the woman had already driven away from the scene and Zain and Husain, the passers-by, were hit by the firing. Zain succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital. Kanju had escaped from the scene and later was arrested from Khushab.
The trial court had indicted Kanju and his four guards for the murder but the suspects filed an acquittal application under Section 265-K of CrPC after complainant of the case and all prosecution witnesses did not testify against them.
On Oct 27, an ATC acquitted the suspects after several key witnesses retracted their statements. The prosecutor said the complainant and the witnesses were persuaded to retract their statements and had urged the court to dismiss the acquittal application of the suspects.
The Supreme Court then took up the case on a suo motu notice, later referring it to the Lahore High Court and directed the prosecution to file an appeal against the acquittal.
After a DNA report submitted to a Lahore High Court division bench showed the bloodstains on Kanju's guard's clothes matched the victim's blood sample, the bench admitted the prosecution's appeal and issued notices to Kanju and the other suspects.
Read more: Zain's mother says she is too weak to fight the killers.