LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Tuesday indicted an underage driver and his father on charges of killing six people in a car accident in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA).

ATC-II Judge Irfan Haider directed the prosecution to present its witnesses at next hearing as both accused Afnan and his father Shafqat Ali pleaded not guilty and decided to contest the charges.

The judge adjourned the hearing till Aug 22.

Previously, the judge had dismissed two applications of the accused challenging the charge-sheet filed by the prosecution and addition of terrorism charges in the FIR.

The Defence police had registered the FIR in 2023 on a complaint of Rafaqat Ali, who lost his wife Rukhsana Bibi (45), son Husnain (25), daughter-in-law Ayesha (23), son-in-law Sajjad (30), four-month-old grandson Huzaifa, and granddaughter Anaya (4) in the deadly road accident.

Besides underage driver Afnan, his father Shafqat, and friends Ali Abdullah, Muhammad Saad and Muhammad Ibrahim have also been declared guilty of multiple offences in the police challan. The Lahore High Court had granted bail to the driver in September 2024.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2025