By Our Correspondent

GUJRANWALA, Sept 15: The Anti-Terrorism Court No 2 extended on Wednesday for seven days the judicial remand of the former Sialkot district police officer (DPO) and five other police officers in the Sialkot lynching case.

Judge Rana Nisar ordered investigating officer Hamidullah to attach the fact-finding report of Justice Kazim Ali Malik (retired) with the case while charge sheet against the accused should be submitted to the court by Sept 22.

The court is hearing the case of two brothers — Mughees Butt and Muneeb Butt — who were lynched to death in village Buttar on Aug 15.

Former DPO Waqar Ahmad Chohan pleaded in the court the complainant had not nominated him in the first information report as he was arrested on the pressure of the media. He said there was no need for a second postmortem of the bodies, and it was being done to prolong the case.

Chohan and other police officers — Nazir Husain, Naseer Ahmad, Bashir Ahmad, Muhammad Yasin and Muhammad Akram — were produced in the court amid tight security. The court will take up the bail plea of the former DPO on Sept 17.

BAIL BOND: Seventeen police officers involved in the Sialkot jail case submitted surety bonds worth Rs100,000 in the court of Gujranwala civil court on Wednesday. These officials include Balochistan Inspector General (IG) Malik Iqbal, Sahiwal Deputy IG Amjad Javed Saleemi and former Sialkot jail superintendent Sikander Hayat involved in the Sialkot jail case in which four judges and some prisoners were killed when the judges were made hostage by prisoners in 2003.

Judges Shehr Yar Bukhari, Saghir Anwar, Asif Mumtaz Cheema and Shahid Iqbal Ranjha visited Sialkot jail barracks in 2003 and were made hostage by inmates. Then DIG Mr Malik and other senior police officers ordered a commando operation to rescue the judges which resulted in the deaths of the judges.

Then Sialkot district and sessions court judge Muhammad Yousaf Aujala got registered a case against 18 police and jail officers on the orders of higher authorities.

Later, a terrorism court judge handed down 35 years imprisonment each to then assistant superintendent jail Muhammad Hafeez and head warden Raja Mushtaq Ahmad while police officials were acquitted.

On the appeal of Ghulam Abbas Bukhari, father of slain judge Shehr Yar Bukhari, the Lahore High Court ordered local court to issue bailabale arrest warrants for the police officials. All accused were present in the court on Wednesday.

SUSPENDED: RPO Tariq Masood Yaseen suspended Galyan SHO Muhammad Anwar and Sambrial SHO Zahid from service for negligence.