PESHAWAR, Oct 22: An anti-terrorism court here on Wednesday declared the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan’s chief Baitullah Mehsud and two other alleged militants as proclaimed offenders in a suicide bombing case that targetted the then federal interior minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao in Charsadda.

The court presided over by Shamsher Ali Khan fixed Oct 24 for indicting an arrested accused in the case, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.

Despite issuance of repeated notices by the court the three absconding accused persons - Baitullah Mehsud, Shahjehan and Zubair Swathi - did not turn up before the court after which proceedings were started for declaring them proclaimed offenders under the Criminal Procedure Code.

The court declared them POs and ordered initiating proceedings against them under section 512 of the CrPC.

Under the said section if it is proved that an accused has absconded and there is no immediate prospect of arresting him the court can examine evidence of prosecution witnesses in his absence.

The incident had occurred on April 28, 2007, when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the vehicle of Aftab Sherpao after he addressed a pubic meeting at Station Korona in Charssada. While Mr Sherpao and his son Sikander Sherpao had survived that attack around 34 persons were killed and 50 other were injured in that occurrence.

The accused Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, a resident of Muslimabad in Station Korona, was arrested by security agencies from a mosque on charges of being part of the conspiracy. Later on, the agencies claimed that the suicide bombing was carried out on the order of Baitullah Mehsud and the two other accused, Shahjehan and Zubair Swathi, had also connived in the conspiracy.

Hafiz Saeed was arrested in May 2007. Initially, he was suspected of being involved in destroying a CD centre in Charsadda. Later on, he was also charged in the suicide bombing case.

Baitullah Mehsud has already been declared proclaimed offender by anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi in two other cases – the murder case of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto that of seizing three explosive-laden vehicles in the limits of Sadiqabad police station.