KARACHI, Nov 25 An additional district and sessions court on Tuesday rejected bail applications of two brothers allegedly involved in the murder case of a famous fashion designer.

The suspects, Ameer Hamza and Mohammad Saad Farooq, through their counsel had moved bail applications in the court.

The police arrested them near the Zamzama Park in Clifton on Sept 3 for their alleged involvement in the case.

The bullet-riddled body of the fashion designer, Sheikh Amir Hassan, was found on Aug 30 in his DHA, Phase V, residence and a case (FIR 215/08) was registered under Section 302/34 of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Clifton police station on the complaint of the deceased's brother, Jalal Hussain.

The additional district and sessions judge-IV (south), Abdul Naeem Memon, pronounced the order after recording arguments from both sides.

The suspects' counsel, Mushtaq Awan, argued that there was no direct or circumstantial evidence against his clients, nor they were nominated in the FIR.

He said that there were glaring contradictions in the versions of police officials and the documents of the prosecution as an SSP on Dec 3 told the media regarding the recovery of a gun from the suspects' house while the charge-sheet stated that the weapon was recovered on Sept 5.

He said a witness, Tariq, stated to be the deceased's driver, was being described as key evidence by the prosecution. But there were major contradictions in his statements recorded under Section 161 and 164 of the CrPC as he did not mention the suspects' names in his statement recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC.

The suspects' counsel contented that there were around seven other servants of the deceased, including, cooks, gunmen and gatekeeper, but their names had not been placed in the list of prosecution witnesses.

He concluded that the deceased had received the last call from a SIM (subscriber identity module) that was registered in someone else's name and the police had falsely implicated his clients in the case. He requested the court to grant them bail.

The public prosecutor, Abdul Maroof, argued that there was ample evidence against the suspects and the deceased's driver had seen them at the scene of the crime. He said Ameer Hamaza had made the last call at Sheikh Amir's cellphone as the said SIM was in his use.

He said that the police had recovered the gun used in the crime and the same was confirmed by the medical reports. He pleaded for the dismissal of the suspects' bail applications.

The complainant's counsel, M. Ilyas Khan, argued that there was sufficient evidence against the suspects and a witness had seen them leave the residence of the deceased on the date of the incident.

He submitted that the police on a lead given by one of the suspects had recovered a double barrel gun and its ballistic report also confirmed that the weapon was used in the crime, adding that accused had made an extrajudicial confession to his friend Waqas while the medial evidence also corroborated the prosecution's case.

The court will indict the suspects on Dec 4.

Two sisters remanded

A civil judge and judicial magistrate (Malir) on Tuesday remanded two sisters in police custody till Nov 28 for their alleged involvement in a narcotics smuggling case.

The prosecution said that Azra Shaheen and Bushra Shaheen, hailing from Dera Ismail Khan, were trying to smuggle three kilograms of heroin to Nepal via a Kathmandu-bound flight of PIA on Nov 24. However the customs police stopped both the women at Karachi airport and recovered heroin from their luggage.

The customs police registered a case under Section 6/9-C of the Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997.

Teenage girl sent to jail

The same court on Tuesday remanded a teenage girl in jail custody on charges of smuggling heroin. Customs officials arrested 18-year-old Nalia Younus at Karachi airport on Nov 20 on suspicion of smuggling drugs.

Later, 550 grams of heroin was allegedly recovered by the medical staff from the woman's abdomen at the Jinnah hospital. The customs police registered a case (FIR 80/08) against the suspect under Section 6/9-C of Control of Narcotic Substances Act 1997.

Hearing put off

The district and sessions judge (south) on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of bail applications of Munaf Kalia and Javed Khanani till Nov 27 since the FIA's counsel sought time to study the case.