KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court has acquitted a suspect in a case pertaining to the murder of Karachi University professor Dr Shakil Auj for want of evidence. The prosecution failed to establish charges against the suspect beyond shadow of doubt, the ATC judge held. Muhammad Mansoor, said to be an activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, was booked for allegedly killing Dr Auj, KU’s Islamic Studies faculty dean, in a drive-by shooting on Nipa Bridge on September 18, 2014 within the remits of Aziz Bhatti police station. The judge exonerated the accused after scrutinizing the evidences and testimonies put before him by the prosecution and the defense. Dr Auj was gunned down at a time when he along with a colleague and a student was heading to Iranian Culture Center in Clifton to attend a ceremony held in his honor for his services to the Islamic studies. He was shot in head by armed assailants riding on a motorbike. His student was also injured in the attack. Two days later, banned terrorist outfit Al Qaeda in the Indian Sub-Continent (AQIS) claimed responsibility of killing the professor in a video and threatened to carry out more attacks on people from Pakistan to Bangladesh, who according to the organization, were involved in committing blasphemy. The case was registered under sections 302 (premeditated murder), 324 (attempting to murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act on the complaint of the eldest son, Hassan Auj, of the slain professor. Published in Daily Times, July 27th 2017.