LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday initiated proceedings to declare dozens of PTI leaders and workers, including five former federal ministers, as proclaimed offenders (POs) in two separate cases related to the events of May 9.

Sarwar Road police had registered two FIRs of the incidents, including the attack on the corps commander’s house and the torching of police vehicles at Rahat Bakery Chowk, against leaders and workers of PTI.

The investigating officers of both cases filed separate applications before the court with a request to start the proceedings to declare the suspects as POs for not joining the investigation.

The applications said the suspects had neither been arrested nor they had surrendered before the law despite issuance of their non-bailable warrants.

The suspects in the case of police vehicles’ burning include former federal ministers Ham­mad Azhar, Farrukh Habib, Mur­ad Saeed, Azam Khan Swati and Ali Amin Gandapur, former provincial minister Mian Aslam Iqbal, Zubair Niazi and 10 others.

The suspects in the corps commander’s house attack case are Jamshed Iqbal Cheema, his wife Musarrat Iqbal Cheema, Nadeem Abbas Bara, Shazia Sohail, Shumaila Rashid, Arfa Naeem, Ibrar Mehdi and 25 others.

Judge Abher Gul Khan allowed the applications of the IOs in both cases and ordered the prosecution to publish a proclamation in national dailies against the suspects.

The proceedings to declare the former federal and provincial ministers POs in the Jinnah House attack case are already underway.

The court has already initiated proceedings to declare former provincial minister Mian Aslam Iqbal, Ghulam Abbas, Jamshed Iqbal Cheema and his wife Musarrat Jamshed Cheema POs in the Askari Tower attack case.

The ATC also sought more arguments on a post-arrest bail petition of former provincial minister Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed in the case of burning of Shadman police station.

The judge would now resume the hearing on Sept 19.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2023