PESHAWAR: An Additional District and Sessions Judge, Bakht Zada, has acquitted four employees of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) who were nominated in a case involving the alleged smuggling of gold worth millions of rupees due to lack of evidence.
Announcing the verdict, the court ordered the acquittal of the accused, including Nasir Shah, Shahidullah, Attaullah Shah and Ijaz Ahmad, stating that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against them. The judge observed in the written decision that the benefit of doubt must go to the accused, leading to their acquittal.
The court also directed that the recovered gold be returned to its original owner, Attaullah Shah, after completion of legal formalities and proper identification. It is pertinent to mention that more than 7.5 kilograms of gold had been recovered from a PIA staff member at Bacha Khan International Airport, Peshawar. Following the recovery, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had registered a formal case.
According to FIA Peshawar, action was taken under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, and the gold seized earlier by the Airport Security Force (ASF) was taken into FIA custody. Official records showed that four gold bars weighing 7,738 grams were recovered from the possession of the accused.
The ASF had handed over the suspect to the FIA along with gold purity certificates and educational documents. The case was registered on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Haseeb Jamal, after which an investigation was initiated.
