ISLAMABAD: Cheques worth Rs34.675 million were on Saturday handed over to the relatives of the people who were killed or injured during the terrorist attack on the district courts on March 3.

Four to eight terrorists entered the district courts complex and opened fire and threw hand grenades on the people. As a result, 12 persons, including Additional District and Sessions Judge Rafaqat Ahmed Khan Awan, died and 28 others were injured. The injured were admitted to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) and so far 14 of them have been discharged.

On Saturday, Member National Assembly (MNA) Tariq Fazal Chaudhry visited Pims and handed over the cheques to the injured persons.

The MNA said it had been decided that the compensation should be paid to the victims as soon as possible.

“The compensation is not an alternative for the loss and pain which the people suffered but the government has tried to help out the injured and relatives of the deceased,” he said.

An official of the district administration said Rs32.5 million had been paid to the families of the deceased and Rs2.175 million to the injured persons.

“According to a government policy, Rs3 million are paid to the family of a deceased non-gazetted government employee and Rs10 million to the family of a gazetted officer. Moreover, free education is provided to four children of the victims and the family of the deceased can retain the government accommodation till the date when he was to reach the age of superannuation,” he said.

He said Rs500,000 were paid in case a government servant sustained a major injury and Rs300,000 in case of a minor injury. If a private person dies during a terrorist attack, Rs500,000 compensation is paid to his family. In case of major and minor injuries, a private citizen is paid Rs75,000 and Rs25,000 compensation, respectively.

As many as five government employees were killed during the attack on the district courts. Two of them were in Basic Pay Scale 20, so cheques for Rs10 million were given to the families of the additional sessions judge and regional director AIOU Mian Aslam.

Three cheques worth Rs9 million were dispatched to the non-gazetted injured employees - a police constable, a CDA official and the driver of Mian Aslam. An official of Pims said the MNA handed over cheques to 11 injured persons who were under treatment in the surgical ward IV.

“However, he gave three cheques to the management of the hospital to pass it on to the injured persons who were under treatment in the intensive care units. — A Reporter