RAWALPINDI, June 5: Anti-Terrorist Court No. 1 Special Judge Tariq Abbasi here on Tuesday directed the police to arrest the Station House Officer (SHO) of Pirwadhai police for not appearing before the court as witness in a case of hate material seizure.

The judge directed the assistant superintendent police (City Circle) to arrest Inspector Azhar Shah and produce him before the court on June 8. In case the SHO is not produced, the ASP will have to appear in person to explain the absence of the police official.

The inspector had to appear before the court on Tuesday as a key witness in a case of seizure of compact disks (CDs) and audio cassettes containing speeches made by leaders of banned religious outfits.

A 24-year-old man, Naeem Munir, was arrested by the police for selling the hate material outside Umar Farooq Mosque in Awan Colony on March 15.

Twenty-three CDs and 80 audio cassettes containing fiery speeches and 28 blank CDs and 28 cassettes were confiscated from the accused. The CDs and the cassettes carried stickers bearing the names of religious groups.

Two witnesses recorded there statements while the SHO was still to record his account before the court, but he had not been appearing before the judge for more than two months.