LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday denied a further physical remand for former police inspector Abid Hussain, known as Abid Boxer, in a case of alleged extortion and attacking a police team.

The Faisal Town police presented the former inspector before the court upon the expiry of his previous seven-day physical remand.

The investigating officer (IO) requested the court to extend the physical remand of the suspect for 15 days, stating that it was necessary to recover an official Kalashnikov that had been snatched from a constable.

Judge Abher Gul Khan questioned the IO regarding why he had not been able to recover the rifle during the previous seven days of remand.

A counsel for the suspect claimed that the charge of snatching a police rifle was fabricated against his client.

The judge rejected the police’s request for further remand and sent the suspect to jail on judicial remand.

The police alleged that Boxer and other suspects were involved in extortion and attacking a police team. They stated that the former inspector had snatched an official rifle from a constable and escaped custody when a police team arrested him. The suspect was later apprehended in Kasur.

Boxer is known as an encounter specialist due to alleged extrajudicial killings that took place approximately 15 years ago.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2023