LAHORE: The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Friday filed a guilty challan before an anti-terrorism court against three suspects in the case of 2021 bomb blast near the residence of Jamatud Dawa’s chief Hafiz Saeed in Johar Town.

The CTD declared mastermind Samiul Haq and his two facilitators – Aziz Akbar and Naveed Akhtar – guilty and asked the court to hold their trial.

The suspects were not produced before the court owing to security reasons.

The court issued notices to the suspects for Sept 20 to formally resume the trial proceedings.

In this case, the trial court has already handed down death penalty to four suspects on nine counts. The convicts include Peter Paul, Eid Gul, Ziaullah and Sajjad Hussain.

The trial court also awarded a five-year imprisonment to another suspect Ayesha Gul on charges of facilitating the prime suspects.

On June 23, 2021, a powerful blast near the residence of Hafiz Saeed in Johar Town had killed three people and injured 24 others, including a police constable.

WARRANTS: A judicial magistrate on Friday issued bailable warrants for the arrest of retired Capt Muhammad Safdar, son-in-law of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, for not appearing in a case of hate speech.

Earlier, a lawyer submitted an application for one-time exemption from personal appearance on behalf of Mr Safdar, saying the applicant was in Islamabad due to hearing of his appeal before the Islamabad High Court.

However, the magistrate dismissed the application and issued bailable arrest warrants of Mr Safdar for Oct 21, who had already been indicted in the case.

Islampura police had registered the case and arrested Mr Safdar on the night Mr Sharif, who was in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), was admitted to the Services Hospital in 2019. The police alleged that Mr Safdar incited people against the government and state institutions. Later, he was released on bail.

Mr Safdar’s counsel contended that police acted with mala fide intention as they initially lodged the FIR under section 16 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) and later inserted sections 124 and 506 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) as well.

He said the case against Safdar was nothing but a result of political victimisation. He asked the court to quash the case and acquit his client.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2022