LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday granted post-arrest bail to the chief of a banned outfit in a 27-year-old murder case of famous poet Mohsin Naqvi.

Judge Arshad Javed allowed a bail petition of Mian Mohammad Ajmal, alias Akram Lahori, subject to furnishing surety bonds of Rs500,000.

Poet Naqvi was gunned down near Moon Market, Allama Iqbal Town, in a targeted killing in 1996.

A defence counsel claimed that the petitioner (Lahori) was in the custody of law-enforcement agencies when he was ‘implicated’ in the poet’s murder. He argued co-suspects in the case had already been acquitted by the court.

The prosecution, however, asserted that the suspect had murdered the poet in a sectarian attack.

Record missing: Last year, the trial court had ordered action against several police officials when it was informed that the record of the case had gone missing.

Later, the counter-terrorism department of police presented a record after compiling copies of some documents from the police station.

Lahori had been convicted in a number of cases of sectarian killings registered in different cities of Sindh and Punjab provinces. His targets were notable members of the Shia community.

Akram Lahori, who graduated from Lahore, initially worked for the proscribed Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP). Later in 1999, he along with his associates formed Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, which was later banned by the government.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2023