KARACHI: The administrative judge of the antiterrorism courts handed over on Tuesday seven suspects to police in a case of an attack on the Karachi Press Club.

The police produced Abdul Qadir, Mohammad Raza, Imran, Umair Khan, Zafar Iqbal, Irfan and Khawaja Raza, said to be affiliated with the student wing of a religious party, before the administrative judge of the ATCs and obtained their three-day physical remand.

According to the prosecution, the Anjuman Talba-i-Islam (ATI), the student wing of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan-Noorani, had staged a demonstration on March 27 in front of the KPC to mark the Chehlum of Mumtaz Qadri, but the participants allegedly turned violent and set a vehicle of a news channel on fire, beat up journalists and attacked the KPC over what they described as lack of media coverage of their protest.

A case was lodged under sections including 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Meanwhile, the ATI, in a statement, condemned the attack and expressed its solidarity with the journalist community, saying that the arrested suspects were not affiliated with the ATI.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2016