GUJRANWALA, April 7: The Anti-terrorism Court-II granted a five-day physical remand of 11 activists of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal, while 17 MMA activists were sent to jail on judicial remand here on Thursday. The judge, Mirza Rafiuzzaman, adjourned the bail application of MNA Qazi Hameed Ullah and his son Mufti Kafait Ullah till April 11 for arguments.

Earlier, civil lines police pleaded that it wanted to recover petrol bombs, sticks, clubs and other weapons from accused Ahmad Shah, Fakhar, Bakhat Khan, Syed Shah Sarwat Shah, Shabbir Ahmad, Noor Khan, Islam Shah, Taj Din, Abdur Rehman and Nasir.

Meanwhile, the leaders of various religious parties, including Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (both factions) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan, protested against police crackdown on seminaries and mosques, and demanded that an inquiry be conducted into Gujranwala incident by a high court judge.

Speaking at a conference held here on Sheranwala Bagh Mosque Maulana Zahidul Rashadi, Maulana Syed Abdul Malik Shah, Maulana Muhammad Abdullah, MMA district president Maulana Ali Ahmad and others demanded the government to avoid holding girls’ marathon races, saying these were against Islamic teachings. Instead, girls be only allowed to take part in sports activities within the premises of their educational institutions, they added. They also demanded that all arrested activists of the MMA, including MNA Qazi Hamid Ullah and his son, be released immediately, warning that the religious parties would observe a protest day in the city on Friday next if their activists were not released.