RAWALPINDI, April 6: An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday acquitted a man allegedly involved in two bomb blasts carried out in Attock last year for want of evidence.

Special Judge ATC-II Raja Ikhlaq Hussain accepted the acquittal plea of the accused Shahid Ali and said he should be released if he was not involved in any other criminal case. Shahid was accused of helping and abetting in planted bomb blast at a CD market in Jand and a suicide blast in a CD shop at Rangli Attcok.

Shahid through his lawyer Rizwan Abbasi had moved an application under section 265-K of criminal procedure code for acquittal in the two cases as Jand police had no direct evidence against him to prove his involvement in the case.

The suicide blast at Rangli occurred on January 28, 2010 and the planted bomb blast was carried out at Jand on February 5 last year. Only the suicide bomber later identified as Mudassar was killed in the blasts and CD shops were destroyed.

Police arrested Shahid on the information provided by two other accused Ikram Saeed and Naseem Ahmed, all residents of Attock, and allegedly recovered a suicide vest from Shahid.

The lawyer maintained before the court that Attock police obtained confessional statement from Shahd through coercive measures to rope him in the case and connect him with other accused in the blast case.

According to the prosecution, police arrested Ikram, Naseem and Tariq Ismail for their alleged hand in the two blasts and later took Shahid into custody on the information of the arrested men.

Police arrested the other three men on the complaint of the mother of the suicide attacker as she said they were his friend and took him away from his house. Mudassar's mother lodged a complaint with Jand police after her son was identified as the suicide bomber.