ATTOCK, March 9: The administration of the Attock Fort has banned the entry of newsmen in the accountability court housed in a barrack of the centurys-old Mughal fort nestled on a mound along the Indus river, some 70km southeast of Peshawar.

An agent of an intelligence agency conveyed a message of his superior officer that the newsmen had been denied entry to the court till further orders. “I have been asked not to allow any newsmen to attend the court proceedings. I am obeying the order,” a bearded man sitting at the reception counter near the main gate said.

Akbar Yousufzai, a newsman from Attock city, said some newsmen who came to attend the proceedings on Feb 28, were denied entry, but other visitors were allowed to attend the court as usual.

All the three judges, including Mr Farrukh Latif, the Attock accountability court judge, who had been hearing various cases of Asif Ali Zardari, had been elevated to the Lahore High Court.

Farooq Hameed Naek, counsel for Mr Zardari, said two witnesses in the assets case had deposed before the court on Feb 28, the last day of hearing by judge Farrukh Latif.