July 27, 2007	Friday	Rajab 11, 1428

ISLAMABAD, July 26: The Supreme Court has warned the federal government not to treat the Lal Masjid military operation lightly or else it would attract “damages”. A two-member Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar and Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi issued the warning on Thursday while taking suo motu notice of the killings at the Lal Masjid during operation.

About the whereabouts of seminary students missing after the military operation, Brig (retd) Javed Iqbal Cheema, Director-General of National Crisis Management Cell of the Ministry of Interior, informed the court that DNA tests of 60 family members of madressah students missing since the operation had been collected so far to determine the exact number of persons missing.

Their DNA would be matched with the bodies recovered from the fortified complex of the Masjid for the purpose, he said.

However the bench expressed dissatisfaction with the figures of the ministry and observed that if the government continued to take the case for granted, the court would be left with no option but to impose damages.

Brig Cheema said results of the DNA tests were expected in a few days and would be submitted to the court before the next date of hearing. The court however directed him to submit the results to its Registrar by Tuesday next.

About the reported desecration of papers containing Quranic verses during the Lal Masjid operation, the official said the matter was being investigated and would be completed in two or three days.

At the last hearing the court had ordered registration of cases against those responsible for the desecration of sacred papers recovered after the Lal Masjid-Jamia Hafsa operation with a direction to ensure that the pages of Quranic verses should not be desecrated.

Brig Cheema also informed the court that in all 1,717 girl students were registered with the Jamia Hafsa, of which 1,526 were boarders and the remaining were day-scholars.

This information was collected, according to him, from the register found in Jamia Hafsa but the representatives of the Legal Aid Committee (LAC), assisting the court, refused to accept the figure.

The court directed the LAC representatives to visit the Jamia Hafsa principal Umme Hassan at the Simly Dam Rest House, where she is currently lodged, and verify the figure.

It further directed the government to arrange a meeting between the sisters of Maulana Abdul Aziz and him at the rest house where the Maulana is lodged with his wife Umme Hassan and their daughters Tayyaba and Asma.

Superintendent Adiala Jail Rawalpindi informed the court that 620 persons detained during the military operation were kept in the Adiala Jail. Of them 508 had already been released while 62 more were to be released on Thursday night.

His figures of the detainees however clashed with those submitted by the Interior Ministry.

Standing counsel for the federation Shamshad Cheema informed the court that 46 persons would remain in detention of the police after the release of 62.

The LAC presented a list of 10 more students missing in the operation to the court claiming that a total of 68 persons were missing.

The court was also informed that 12-year-old Yasir Rasheed, who sustained bullet injuries during the military operation, was in critical condition and needed extra medical treatment to avoid being paralysed for ever.

The court ordered examination of the boy by a medical board and remarked that it may order treatment of the boy in a foreign country, if required.

The court asked SHO Ashraf of the Kohsar police station to file a reply in writing to the complaints that he abused Lal Masjid detainees and their relatives in his custody.

Our Staff Reporter from Pindi adds: A batch of 62 students of Lal Masjid, including an injured, were released from Adiala jail late Thursday night, official sources said.

Deputy superintendent jail Malik Feroz confirming the release of the students said they have been sent to the Sports Complex where they would be handed over to their relatives. The injured student, who had been in the jail hospital was identified as Sohail.

The jail official said there had been 114 seminary students in the jail.

Earlier, the officials of an intelligence agency had grilled the students in the jail for their alleged links with Al-Qaeda.