KARACHI: The Counter Terrorism Department has filed a charge-sheet with the administrative judge of antiterrorism courts on Monday against a journalist accusing him of fanning religious disharmony.

According to the CTD, it arrested Nasrullah Khan Chaudhry, a journalist associated with Urdu-language daily Nai Baat, in Karachi’s Garden area on Nov 11. The agency alleged that Nasrullah Khan was carrying some journals and booklets about Afghan Jihad and the Punjabi Taliban which contained material intended to sow discord on sectarian grounds as well as to motivate people to take part in “Jihad”.

Later the court remanded the journalist to prison.

The investigating officer (IO) named five prosecution witnesses in the charge-sheet. The IO repeatedly cited the name of Khalid Mukshi in the remand papers and the charge-sheet, alleging that he was a leader of Al Qaeda and that the detained journalist had links to him.

However, the IO did not name Mukshi as an accused or absconder in the charge-sheet.

The administrative judge sent the case to ATC-VIII for trial and directed the jail authorities to produce Nasrullah Khan before the trial court on Friday (Nov 23).

The CTD booked the journalist under Section 11-F (i) of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 (a person is guilty of an offence if he belongs, or professes to belong, to a proscribed organisation), Section 11-W(i) (printing, publishing or disseminating any material to incite hatred or giving projection to any person convicted for a terrorist act or any proscribed organisation or an organisation placed under observation or anyone concerned in terrorism) and Section 7.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2018