Mazari among 9 more indicted in GHQ attack case

RAWALPINDI: Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Rawalpindi Judge Amjad Ali Shah Monday indicted former PTI leader Shireen Mazari, along with eight others, in May-9 GHQ attack case. 

However, three accused — Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Colonel Ajmal Sabir Raja and Sikandar Zeb — refused to sign the charge sheet, saying the evidence against them was insufficient. They said their 265D application should be heard first, and they would sign the charge sheet after the decision of their application.

PTI founder Imran Khan and others have already been charged over their alleged involvement in arson and vandalism at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi during the May-9 mayhem.

The prosecution filed applications to suspend the bail of almost two dozen suspects, including Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Ali Amin Gandapur. Imran Khan did not appear before the media for a talk, but he met PTI leaders including Fawad Chaudhry, Babar Awan, Sheikh Rashid and others.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi was sent to Lahore under tight security. Gandapur arrived at Adiala Jail to meet Imran Khan, but he was not permitted entry, and his convoy was stopped outside Adiala Jail gate number 5. The convoy then left for Gorakhpur.

The nine more suspects, who were arraigned in the case besides former federal minister Mazari were PTI leaders Rashid Hafeez, Khadim Hussain Khokhar, Zakirullah, Azeemullah, Tahir Sadiq, Mehar Javed, Chaudhry Asif and Munir.

All defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges during the hearing, presided over by the ATC judge at a make-shift court setup in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail. The court had summoned the suspects for Monday’s hearing session. Khan was also produced before the judge, while former PTI vice-chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi was brought to the facility from Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat jail, where he had been incarcerated.

Prosecution lawyers requested the court to cancel the bails of the suspects who skipped the hearing. “They are deliberately delaying the trial,” the prosecution contended. Meanwhile, a plea to halt the indictment process was filed on Qureshi’s behalf under Section 265D of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), on the basis of insufficient evidence.

The court accepted the plea, fixing it for hearing on Dec 19 and adjourned the proceedings. The proceedings were adjourned till Dec 19. At least 70 PTI leaders, including Khan, face allegations of planning the May-9 events and inciting workers and supporters to attack military and government installations following the arrest of the ousted prime minister by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in 2023.

Separately, Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Islamabad Judge Tahir Abbas Supra discharged 61, out of 188 activists, arrested in cases registered in different police stations over the D-Chowk protest, while the others were handed over to the police on physical remand or sent to jail on judicial remand.

During the hearing, the police of three police stations produced 188 activists in the court. Lawyer for the accused Ansar Kayani appeared in the court. The Sahala police produced 31 accused in the court, after completion of two-day physical remand. The court rejected the police’s request for physical remand and sent them to jail on judicial remand.

The Aabpara police station produced 94 accused in the court. The court discharged four accused from the case and handed over 90 to the police on two-day physical remand. The Tarnol police station produced 63 accused in the court. The court discharged 57 accused from the case. Other six accused were handed over to the police on two-day physical remand.

Lawyer Ansar Kayani said the court had discharged the accused on Saturday as well, but the police arrested them again. The court ordered that the discharged accused be released in the courtroom and not be arrested again.

Later, the lawyer told the court that the police were not releasing the discharged workers, upon which Judge Tahir Abbas Supra came to the entrance gate of the judicial complex outside the court and called the police officers concerned and instructed that the Saturday’s act of arresting the discharged activists should not be repeated. Later, the police released all the discharged workers on the court orders.