LAHORE: An antiterrorism court (ATC) in Dera Ghazi Khan on Monday acquitted MPA Rana Abdul Mannan Sajid and three other accused in a case registered over an alleged assault on the then assistant commissioner of Jatoi tehsil in May 2024.

ATC Judge Muhammad Rizwan Arif announced the verdict, extending the benefit of the doubt to the accused, after hearing final arguments from the prosecution and the defence.

According to the court order, the accused acquitted in the case include Rana Abdul Mannan Sajid, Ghulam Yasin, Hamza Qureshi and Umar. The court ruled that they had been acquitted of the charges.

The court order states that the prosecution has completed presentation of its evidence, while the statements of the accused were recorded under Section 342 of CrPC. The accused neither opted to produce defence evidence nor chose to appear as witnesses under Section 340(2) of the CrPC.

The court also ordered that the case property be kept intact until the disposal of any appeal or revision, while the sureties of the acquitted accused were discharged from their liabilities.

Two other accused, Liaqat Ali and Muhammad Yousaf, who have been declared proclaimed offenders, were not covered by the acquittal. The court ordered that proceedings against them be kept pending under Section 512 of the CrPC until their arrest.

An FIR was registered at Jatoi police station in May 2024 against the MPA and 10 unidentified men under the relevant provisions of the antiterrorism law following the alleged assault on the then assistant commissioner Tariq Mahmood during a farmers’ protest, led by Mr Sajid, over non-provision of gunny bags (bardana) for wheat procurement.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2026