RAWALPINDI: An antiterrorism court (ATC) here on Monday acquit­ted a man for want of evidence in a case pertaining to his having links with the outlawed Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and possessing illegal weapons.

ATC Judge Mohammad Asghar Khan acquitted Moham­mad Javed after the prosecution failed to prove charges against him.

The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), Rawal­pindi, arrested Javed at Jahania Chowk in Attock district. The CTD claimed to have recovered a Kalashni­kov rifle, a pistol, hand-grenades and bullets from the possession of the accused.

A case against the accused was registered with the CTD Police Station in Rawalpindi on Jan 3, 2019.

The prosecution during the course of arguments told the court that the accused was an activist of the banned outfit and that he was planning terrorist attacks at different places.

In order to support the case, the police produced seven prosecution witnesses.

The accused, on the other hand, produced three witnesses in his defence.

Advocate Maulana Wajihullah, the counsel for the accused, argued before the court that the CTD had fabricated a false case against his client.

He said the accused was a jeweller by profession and ran his business in Faisalabad.

The counsel claimed that the accused was not arrested in Attock on Jan 3 since he had gone missing from Faisalabad on Dec 6, 2018.

To support the claim, Advocate Wajihullah submitted the report lodged by the spouse of Javed with the Rescue 15 on Dec 6 and subsequent FIR registered with the police station concerned on Dec 11 regarding his disappearance.

The counsel also produced a copy of the petition filed by Javed’s spouse Shabana in the Lahore High Court, seeking recovery of her husband. The petition was still pending adjudication.

In the petition, Shabana accused the police of kidnapping her husband.

The judge, after recording the statements of the witnesses and examining the record, acquitted Javed in the case.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2019