September 15, 2002	Sunday	Rajab 7, 1423

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DERA GHAZI KHAN, Sept 14: The counsel of Maulana Muhammad Azhar Masood, the chief of banned Jaish-i-Muhammad, on Saturday filed his bail application with an additional district and sessions judge after its rejection by civil judge on Sept 13.

B-Division police booked Maulana Masood and two others, Muhammad Zubair Bhatti and Abdul Majid, on Aug 28, 2001, under section 16MPO and AO11B 20/65, for delivering inciting speeches at the Company Bagh’s hockey stadium. Maulana Masood was escorted by four armed body guards when he appeared on the pulpit.

The district administration had imposed ban on the public meeting by the outfit that day as district Nazim Haji Jamal Khan Laghari was not in the district. Naib Nazim Javed Iqbal Qaisrani had denied allowing the outfit to hold the meeting. Consequently, local police DSP Bashir Ahmad Bhatti was suspended on the charge of not terminating the unauthorized public meeting.

The other accused had already been granted bail by Additional District and Sessions Judge Zulfiqar Nasir on Sept 10.

On Saturday, defence counsel Zafarullah Khan Ghilzai, Asif Chaudhry and Naeem Bhatti filed Maulana Masood’s bail application with the ADSJ. The court will announce its verdict on Sept 16.

Jail superintendent Farrukh Zad told Dawn that he had so far not received any directive about shifting of Maulana Masood from the New Central Jail, Bahawalpur.