Lucman seems main culprit, IG tells SC in banners case

ISLAMABAD: IG Islamabad Tahir Alam on Wednesday presented in the Supreme Court (SC) a report on the case of putting up banners in Islamabad which were contemptuous to a judge of the apex court. The SC was hearing the case suo motu.
The IG told the court that the arrested convict had links with the ISI and the ISI authorities had told the police that he is their mole upon whose tip-off many anti-terrorism operations met success. They made it clear that the ISI had nothing to do with the banners.
Mubasher Lucman, host of ARY programme Khara Sach, is co-accused in the case. The IG said that it seems from examination of four programmes of Lucman that he not only abetted in the crime but also committed contempt of court in his programmes. It observed that it seems that Lucman is also behind putting up contemptuous banners in the capital.
Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan headed the three-member bench comprising Justice Ejaz Ahmed Chaudhry and Justice Mushir Alam heard the case. The IG, presenting report on links of the arrested accused with the ISI, said the ISI authorities have said that they are ready to tell all details to the court in in-camera session on court order.
Justice Ejaz Afzal Khan remarked that the report is not satisfactory. He said if Rashid had links with the ISI official named Abdullah and had offered his services to eliminate terrorism from the country, then it should come out what Abdullah has to do with the contemptuous banners.
He told the IG that they are not doing proper investigation and why their investigation has stopped at a certain point. The IG told the court that four programmes of Mubasher Lucman were examined during the investigation and it seems that he is the main culprit in the contempt case.
Applicant Sheikh Ahsanuddin Advocate said he had been saying that Lucman is the main culprit from day one. He said police were protecting Lucman but now the IG has endorsed his claim. He said what Lucman said in the programme was

written on the banners and posters. He said facts should come out in the open now.
Justice Mushir Alam said different programmes are aired on TV channels daily but it is beyond comprehension that why convict Rashid got so angry watching this particular programme that he put up contemptuous banners and posters in the Red Zone.
The IG said they sought Lucman’s mobile phone for investigation but he refused to give it. He said the police wanted to check relationships of Lucman but he has got pre-arrest bail and his bail case is pending with the court of Additional Sessions Judge Sikandar Khan. He said Lucman has filed an application with district and sessions judge expressing his lack of confidence in the additional sessions judge. He said the court would take up the case on April 11 to decide where should Lucman’s appeal be sent for hearing. He said investigation would move further in the light of the court decision.
The IG sought more time from the SC, which set the next hearing in the first week of May. Meanwhile, ISI Field Deparmtnt Commandant Col Khalid Parvez has written a letter to SSP Islamabad dated April 6 stating that the agency is waging a war to protect the country and defeat terrorists.
He mentioned that freelance journalist Muhammad Rashid moves in tribal areas regularly and ISI counterterrorism team takes him to different parts of the country to gather information about terrorists. He stated that on the basis of information provided by Rashid, many counterterrorism operations met success.
He said on the tip-off of Rashid, an operation against terrorists, who were planning a horrible attack in Red Zone, was made successful in September 2011. He said the terrorist group had hid ammunition, missiles and suicide vests in Chatha Bakhtawar, Islamabad. On the information of Rashid, not only that ammunition was recovered but four Jihadists were also arrested. He said on the tip-off of Rashid, the terrorists who killed FIA Prosecutor General Chaudhry Zulfiqar on May 3, 2013 were identified recently. He said ISI teams were working to arrest these terrorists, who had gone underground, with the help of Rashid.
He said on the information of Rashid, ISI team had arrested nine suspected terrorists involved in a grenade attack in January 2014 and recovered five grenades and two pistols from them.
He said these suspects planned to kill a lawyer representing Shias in cases of Madressah Taleemul Quran tragedy and attack an Imambargah in Sector I-9. He said his office’s relationship with Rashid is limited to anti-terrorism activities and has nothing to do with the banners case. He also requested to keep this report secret so that it is not leaked to media.