A local court on Saturday acquitted Balochistan MPA Majeed Khan Achakzai in a vehicle tampering case related to the hit-and-run incident that resulted in the death of a traffic sergeant in Quetta.
Though the MPA was acquitted by judicial magistrate Muhammad Iqbal Khilji, the hit-and-run case is ongoing in an Anti-Terrorism Court as it was registered under Section 322 (punishment for murder) of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
"We have challenged the terrorism charge in a higher court because how can a traffic accident be considered a terrorist act," his counsel said on Saturday.
In June this year, traffic police official Haji Attaullah was killed after being run over by a vehicle that allegedly belonged to Achakzai. The legislator's vehicle was speeding and rammed into the traffic sergeant who was on duty at GPO Chowk, police had said.
CCTV footage of the incident was shared widely on social media and sparked a campaign demanding the arrest of the legislator, after which police had apprehended Achakzai, who belongs to the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, from his residence in the Satellite Town area of Quetta.
He was produced in front of a judicial magistrate a week after the incident, where he was remanded to police custody.
Prior to his remand, however, Achakzai had confessed to his involvement in the accident and claimed to have agreed to compensate the family members of the slain traffic policeman. Surprisingly, the Civil Lines Police Station had still lodged a First Information Report against 'unknown individuals'.
