TOBA TEK SINGH: A Faisalabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Wednesday acquitted 10 nominated accused allegedly involved in the burning of a church during the Jaranwala riots in 2023.

ATC Judge Javed Iqbal Sheikh acquitted all the accused in the case registered by Lundianwala police for burning the church in Chak 651/2 GB on August 16, 2023 after the prosecution failed to prove the charges against them.

Accused included Ausaf Ali, his two sons Shamoan Ali and Saleem Ali, Usama Akbar, Muhammad Idrees, Atif Hussain, Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Azam and Muhammad Ashraf.

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Church Management’s counsel Akmal Bhatti told reporters that the police had failed to conduct a transparent probe. He alleged that police intentionally ignored solid evidence against the accused. He claimed that one of the effected, whose house was also torched along with the church, Rafiq Maseeh, had identified all the acquitted during the identification parade in jail.

He announced that an appeal would be filed before the Lahore High Court against the verdict.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2025