16 January 2005	Sunday	05 Zilhaj 1425

PESHAWAR, Jan 15: Additional district and sessions judge Farhatullah Khan on Saturday issued non-bailable arrest warrants of 32 leaders and activists of a banned organization in the famous, decades-old Kohati Gate sectarian violence case.

The court ordered that the accused should be produced before the court on Jan 29, the next date of hearing. All the 32 accused are on bail in the instant case and their warrants were issued due to their non-appearance.

A total of 39 leaders and activists of the defunct organization, Sipah-i-Sahaba-i-Pakistan, were charged in the case. Seven of the accused persons appeared, including Maulana Noorul Haq, Muhammad Aslam Farooqi, Shahid Noor, Azizur Rehman, Muhammad Islam, Imdadullah and Muhammad Rehman.

The occurrence had taken place here at the Kohati Chowk on July 12, 1992, when an Ashura procession was passing through that area. According to the prosecution, when the procession was passing near a mosque some persons fired at it, resulting in the killing of about 10 persons and injuries to many more.

The incident flared up the worst-ever sectarian violence in Peshawar, which resulted in damage to public property and killing of various other persons. Some 39 activists and leaders of the SSP were charged with the commission of the offence.

The case continued to linger on in the local courts due to non-appearance of accused-persons and witnesses and other reasons. The accused have also filed an application under section 265-K of the Criminal Procedure Code, requesting the court to acquit them as there was no possibility of their conviction on the basis of available evidence.