RAWALPINDI, Jan 3: An anti-terrorism court issued on Saturday arrest warrants for two judicial magistrates for not appearing in the court despite summons to record their statements in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case.

ATC-I judge Chaudhary Habibur Rehman, who has been conducting the trail of five accused in the Adiala jail, issued the warrants for magistrates Ahmed Masood Janjua and Chaudhary Toufeeq Ahmed and directed them to submit surety bonds of Rs10,000 each and appear in the court on Jan 17.

The court summoned the magistrates who had initially recorded the statements of accused Aitzaz Shah, Sher Zaman, Abdul Rasheed, Hasnain Gul and Rafaqat Hussain to have their statements recorded. But, the magistrates did not turn up despite receiving and accepting the summons.

The court put off hearing on the application of accused Sher Zaman who had sought re-framing of charges against him claiming he had been wrongly implicated in the case.

Separately, the court deferred hearing in two suicide attack cases against accused Hasnain and Rafaqat.

Police claimed that the two were involved in the suicide blasts that took place at the R. A. Bazaar in September 2007 and near the Army House in October 2007.

Meanwhile, ACT-II judge Sakhi Mohammad Kahot adjourned the hearing in the case of planning a suicide attack on former president Pervez Musharraf till Jan 13 as lawyers did not appear in the court.

The Sadiqabad Police arrested 12 men in June last year and seized three vehicles laden with over 1,000kg explosives from Dhoke Kala Khan.

They had confessed planning to carry out attacks against the former president.