KARACHI: A sessions court indicted on Friday a former chairman of the Fishermen Cooperative Society in the murder case of a former chief of the Pakistan Steel Mills.

The former FCS chief, Dr Nisar Moral, has been booked for his alleged involvement in the murder case of former Pakistan Steel Mills chairman Sajjad Hussain, who was gunned down in Defence Housing Authority in 1998.

An additional district and sessions judge (south) read out the charges against the accused.

However, the accused pleaded not guilty and the court summoned the prosecution witnesses to record their evidence on Nov 17.

The Rangers had picked up the former FCS chief in March, detained him under three-month preventive detention and handed him over to police in June since he was named as one of the absconders in the present case. Later, he was released on bail.

According to the prosecution, the former PSM chief was shot dead on Sept 11, 1998, in DHA while he was on his way home. The charge sheet said that Salimuddin, alias Sallu, and Sohail Ahmed, alias Panga, were arrested in Sept 1999 and during interrogation, the two suspects disclosed that former Sindh home minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza had allegedly telephoned them and asked them to kill the former PSM chief since he wasgoing to make a statement against PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in a corruption case.

Mr Zardari, Dr Mirza, Mohammed Khan Chachar, Salimuddin and Sohail were the co-accused in the case.

However, Mr Zardari was acquitted in 2003 and Dr Mirza was exonerated in 2007 while the trial court had convicted Chachar, though he was acquitted by the high court. Salimuddin and Sohail Ahmed were declared proclaimed offenders in the case.

Six sent to prison A judicial magistrate remanded on Friday six suspects in prison in a case pertaining to the murder of a couple in the name of `honour`.

Irfana and her cousin Azmat were allegedly killed by their relatives on Oct 25 in Madina Town, Qualdabad, following a `jigra decision` over their alleged `affair`.

After the end of their physical remand, police reproduced Saeed Nawaz, Sarfaraz Khan and Umar Nawaz, brothers of the slain woman, with their uncles Umar Hayat and Lal Qadir and his son Hidayatullah before the court.

A judicial magistrate (Malir) sent the suspects to prison on judicial remand till Nov 10 and directed the investigating officer to submit the investigation report.

Police along with a medical team would exhume the bodies of the slain couple on Nov 8 for post-mortem examinations.