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LAHORE: A Lahore High Court division bench on Tuesday issued non-bailable warrants of arrest for three accused involved in attack on Sri Lankan cricket team for not appearing before the court during the last many hearings. The bench, comprising Justice Sheikh Ahmad Farooq and Kazim Raza Shamsi, also ordered the capital city police officer to arrest accused Qari Muhammad Mushtaq, Amanullah and Ubaidur Rehman and produce them in court.

The bench issued this order on a Punjab government’s petition seeking cancellation of bails earlier granted to six accused involved in the attack on Sri Lanka team by different courts.

The court on the last hearing had summoned all the accused, but only three of them -- Mohsin Rashid, Javed Anwar and Abdullah -- had been appearing in the court.

An additional prosecutor general told the court on Tuesday all the six accused were identified during an identification parade and they had also confessed to their crime during investigation. He said a huge quantity of weapons and suicide jackets were also recovered from their possession. He pointed out that the accused were also not appearing before the trial court.

The government had requested the court to cancel the bails granted to the accused persons submitting that terrorists could not be given the relief of bail under the law.

In the petition, the government took a plea that relief of bail given to the accused would send a wrong message to the Sri Lankan cricket team, which was subjected to the attack and rest of the world. The accused were misusing the concession of bail and it should be taken back, it said.