LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench on Tuesday granted bail to two accused involved in the Kot Radha Kishan lynching case.

Tajamal Husain and Qari Hanif were directed to submit two surety bonds of Rs500,000 each to avail the bail.

However, the bench rejected bail applications of five accused – Haris Bashir, Waqas Bashir, Usman Sindhu, Latif and Nisar Ahmad.

The division bench headed by Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi heard the matter.

Read: Christian couple lynching incited by mullah of local mosque: police

During the hearing, the petitioners’ counsel pleaded for bail to the accused as the allegations levelled against them were frivolous and baseless.

The counsel contended that there was neither any evidence nor any witness against them.

However, the investigation officer told the court the 106 accused were divided into three categories – the accused involved in managing the mob, the accused who joined the killing and those who reached the spot during the crime incident.

The investigation officer said that Haris Bashir and others had managed the mob which killed the couple.

The bench after hearing the arguments of all parties granted bail to Tajamal Husain and Qari Hanif and rejected the bail applications of the rest after the police claimed that they managed the mob.

An enraged mob had, on Nov 4 last, beaten to death Shama and her spouse Shahzad in a village near Kot Radha Kishan and later burnt their bodies in a brick kiln, where the couple used to work.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2015

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