PESHAWAR: A local anti-terrorism court on Monday acquitted four alleged members of the self-styled Islamic State arrested by the counter-terrorism department on the charge of distributing anti-polio and pro-militant material to the people in the provincial capital.

The judge ruled that the prosecution failed to prove its case against the four accused, including Peshawar’s Mir Haider and Mohammad Umrais, Nowshera’s Magfoorullah and Afghan national Muhibullah.

The prosecution had alleged that the accused were arrested on Feb 19, 2016, when they were distributing pamphlets at Mulazai Chowk near Mathra area here.

They were charged under different sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

CTD claimed the accused belonged to Daesh

The CTD in the FIR of the case had claimed that the accused belonged to the IS, also known as Daesh.

It alleged that the officials of the department had received information that some members of a militant outfit were distributing pamphlets in the said area and when they reached there, they found the four accused present there with the said material, which urged the people to refrain from administering anti-polio drops to their children.

Mohammad Saeed and Shabir Hussain Gigyani, lawyers for the accused, said the entire case was fabricated and that the accused were falsely implicated in it.

They said the accused were taken into custody by the security agencies from different areas at least a month before the day CTD claimed to have arrested them.

Mr. Saeed Khan said while the card of arrest of the accused showed that they were arrested on Feb 18, it was mentioned in the FIR that they were arrested on Feb 19.

He added that the prosecution witnesses had recorded conflicting evidence, which clearly proved that it was a fabricated case.

The lawyer said the seizure officer, who had allegedly recovered the controversial pamphlets, had claimed that he had sealed the recovered material, but during the cross-examination, he admitted that he had sent the seized items to the police station in unsealed condition.

He added that the prosecution failed to produce even a single evidence to establish the link of the accused with any militant outfit.

BAIL REJECTED: The anti-terrorism court dismissed pre-arrest bail application of a person charged with harbouring anti-social elements and firing at a police party which had raided his residence to arrest an accused.

The applicant, Sikandar Khan, a resident of Balakhel area in Badabher, was arrested by the local police after rejection of his pre-arrest bail.

The state prosecutor said few days ago, the local police had received information about presence of a proclaimed offender, Atlas Khan, who was required to the police in a murder case. He however said the applicant instead of cooperating with the police started firing gunshots along with some of his accomplices at the police party.

The prosecutor added that fortunately, the police officials had remained unharmed, whereas the applicant had managed to escape from the scene of occurrence.

He added that the applicant was charged under different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2016