RAWALPINDI, Nov 26 An anti-terrorism court (ATC) here on Thursday acquitted six men arrested for allegedly possessing explosives and suicide vests from the area of New Town police July last year.

Special Judge ATC-II exonerated Shafiqur Rehman, Muhammad Mazharul Haq, Niaz Ahmed and three brothers Syed Abdul Majid, Syed Abdul Saboor and Syed Abdul Basit from the charges of keeping the explosives.

The police had claimed that they arrested them from near the Rawalpindi Arts Council and recovered three suicide vests from the possession of Niaz, Mazhar and Shafiq, besides five different kinds of detonators and other explosive material.

The men were planning to carry out attacks on important personalities in the country, the police had alleged.

They are also being tried for their alleged role in the suicide attack on November 24 last year when a bomber rammed his explosive-laden van into a bus packed with security personnel at the gate of an intelligence agency's compound known as Hamza Camp (old Ojhri camp) near Faizabad.

Separately, the court dropped terrorism charges against nine men arrested for allegedly planning terrorist attacks in the city.

The court referred the case against the accused - Muhammad Illyas, Muhammad Rizwan, Dr Abdul Razzaq, Faisal Ahmed Khan, Zeeshan Jalil, Muhammad Sarfaraz, Muhammad Naeem Shakir, Muhammad Nadeem and Osama bin Waheed - to district and sessions judge for their trial.

Sadaar Berooni police had claimed that the accused were arrested from a house in Dhoke Lakhan near Dhamial Aviation base on January 29 with explosive materials and hate literature.