Four acquitted in Kasur child abuse scandal

LAHORE

An anti-terrorism court on Saturday acquitted four suspects in one of nine cases of the Kasur child abuse scandal.

The court acquitted Saleem Akhter Sherazi, Attiqur Rehman, Tanzeelur Rehman and Haseem Amir.

Ganda Singhwala police of Kasur had registered cases against the accused and others on charges of abducting and assaulting around 280 children of Kasur. Counsel of the suspects had argued that police implicated them in the cases on government’s pressure. He said the suspects had no role in the incidents. He asked the court to release the suspects on bail.

Last year, the court had awarded life imprisonment to two suspects – Faizan Majeed and Haseem Amir- in another FIR of the scandal. The prosecution had accused them of assaulting young boys and filming them to blackmail their parents. In some cases, the trial court deleted Section 7 of the Anti Terrorism Act from the FIRs and referred the trials of the suspects to sessions court. Later, the Lahore High Court on an appeal of the prosecution set aside the decision and restored the provision of the anti terrorism law.

arrested: Anti-Human Trafficking Cell (AHTC) of FIA, Lahore, on Saturday arrested three accused persons in various cases for sending people abroad illegally.

According to an FIA official, accused Amjad Khitab Badshah of Mardan was arrested in a case for extorting Rs 4,600,000 for 14 visas of Saudia Arabia. He was arrested on the complaint of one Liaqat Ali of Lahore.

The other accused identified as Mouhammad Iqbal of Bahwalnagar was arrested in a case for extorting Rs 2,990,000 for USA visa from a complainant, Salahud Deen  of Kasur. FIA arrested the third accused identified as Muhammad Imran Ashraf of Vehari in a case for extorting Rs 1,018,000 for Gambia visa from a complainant, Muhammad Ali of Lahore.