LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday granted post-arrest bail to a man accused of human trafficking after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) failed to produce evidence supporting the allegations against him.

Justice Muhammad Amjad Rafiq announced the decision on a bail petition of Shahid Hameed.

On the court’s directions, the FIA Faisalabad director and other officials appeared before the court.

Representing the petitioner, a counsel argued that his client had been falsely implicated in the case. He submitted that the FIA had alleged the petitioner was involved in handing over Pakistani citizens to criminal gangs operating in Cambodia and other countries, but failed to produce any evidence to substantiate the accusations.

The counsel further contended that the complainant, Umar Inayat, had lodged the case on baseless allegations. He asked the court to grant bail to the petitioner.

During an earlier hearing, the judge had directed the FIA to produce the relevant WhatsApp chat record relied upon by the prosecution. However, the FIA officials failed to place the required record or any other material evidence before the court.

After hearing the arguments and examining the record, Justice Rafiq allowed the bail petition and granted bail to Hameed.

PTI ACTIVIST: An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday granted the prosecution time to produce the record in the bail petition of social media activist Falak Javed in a case of an alleged attack on Islamabad police personnel.

The court took up the bail application of Falak, who is currently on judicial remand.

During the hearing, the prosecution failed to produce the case record and sought additional time to place the relevant material before the court.

Accepting the request, the court adjourned further proceedings on the bail petition till Aug 1.

Falak is facing charges in connection with an alleged attack on Islamabad police outside Zaman Park residence of PTI founding chairman Imran Khan.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2026