From Abid Usman
LAHORE: A Lahore anti-terrorism court on Friday extended the interim bails of top Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders in a case pertaining to alleged violations of Section 144 and attacks on law enforcement agencies on May 25 — the day PTI workers marched to Islamabad.
Last week, the court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for PTI leaders Mian Akram Usman, Zubair Niazi, Imtiaz Sheikh, Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed, Shafqat Mahmood, Nadeem Abbas, Murad Raas, Mian Aslam Iqbal, Yasir Gilani, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Hammad Azhar, Andleeb Abbas, and Ijaz Chaudhry for “intentionally concealing themselves in order to avoid their arrest”.
The order was issued at the request of the Punjab police. However, later, they were granted pre-arrest bail till June 17 (yesterday).
During the hearing Friday, all the accused PTI leaders appeared in court except former education minister Shafqat Mahmood, who is currently convalescing because of a surgery.
When the court of Judge Abher Gul Khan resumed the proceedings, the counsel of PTI, Burhan Moazzam Malik, said that the police was not telling his clients why first information reports (FIRS) were registered against them.
“We will only be able to present our arguments when the police provides details of the accusation,” he added.
The investigating officer told the court that some of the PTI leaders named in the criminal complaints had still not “become a part of the investigation”, which was hindering the progress of the case.
Subsequently, the court ordered all the suspects to become a part of the investigation and extended their bails till June 28.
Last month, the Punjab police had registered a total of 42 criminal cases against PTI’s senior leaders and workers for alleged agitation in the aftermath of the long march.
It said three police officials had been martyred in the line of duty while 100 others were injured, three of them seriously, in allegedly attacks by PTI workers. Of them, 34 personnel were injured in Lahore, 48 in Attock and nine in Sargodha, Mianwali, Rawal¬pindi, Jhelum and other cities.
Earlier, a police official told media that 12 cases were registered in Lahore, five in Sialkot, four each in Rawalpindi and Sargodha, three in Mianwali, and two each in Attock and Jhelum, while one FIR was lodged in Chakwal.
