Inter-Risk owner's remand extended

ISLAMABAD - The Judicial Magistrate, Faheem Shah, granted two days physical remand of the owner of Inter-Risk Security Company, Syed Ali Jaffar Zaidi with the direction to the police to verify from the Interior Ministry whether the ministry had issued the licences of the arms in question or not.
On Wednesday the police had produced Syed Ali Jaffar Zaidi before the court, but he failed to provide any proof about the legality of prohibited bore arms confiscated by the police from the companys office on the 19th of this month.
The police informed the court that a huge quantity of arms and ammunition with 63 repeater guns of prohibited bore with no legal licences recovered from the possession of the company. The police also alleged that some tampered weapons of prohibited bore were also recovered from the house of Zaidi as well as office of the company.
The council for Zaidi argued that all the weapons impounded by the police were licensed and no illegal weapon was under the possession of the company.
Moreover, Zaidis council alleged that police had taken away all licences of weapons from the office of the company as well as Zaidis house with them during the raid.
When the court asked Zaidi to provide some proof of licences of these weapons, he could not provide any substantial proof. However, Zaidis council asserted that police and security agencies had seized all computers, their hard disks and other record of the company and his client had no record to provide any proof. The council suggested that the respected court should direct the police to verify those licences from the Ministry of Interior and other agencies concerned.
The council for the accused also said that there was a possibility that the weapons might have been tampered by any one of the employees of the company.
To a query of the court, Zaidi answered that a team of officials including Special Branch and other security agencies headed by a Magistrate checked the records of all the security companies from time to time and his company had been cleared during such type of audits. He was of the view that why the audit teams could not declare him guilty if he had some illegal weapons under his possession.
The legal inspector on behalf of the police informed the court that it was the responsibility of the security company to register all licences in register No.17 of the police station working under its jurisdiction. He said that no licence of any weapon had been registered in the concerned police station seized from the possession of company.
Capt (retd) Zaidi while talking to the media outside the courtroom said that his company had signed a contract with US embassy for the provision of security to it and the government had not shown any reservations whatsoever about that. He also disclosed that he as the CEO of the company, had not been informed about the cancellation of companys licence, if it was cancelled.
Police had arrested Captain Zaidi from the premises of the court on Thursday soon after his plea for confirmation of interim bail was rejected by the court.