Law Minister expresses concern over Hijratullah acquittal

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah expressed his concern over the acquittal of Hijratullah in the Manawan attack case, saying that the Punjab government will appeal against the verdict.

Speaking to media outside the Punjab Assembly in Lahore, he suggested the verdict is in stark contradiction with all available evidence. He said Hijratullah was arrested from the site of the attack and hand grenades and ammunition were recovered from him.

He said the Punjab government will challenge Hijiratullah's verdict in the Supreme Court.

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Saturday acquitted Hijratullah, one of the suspects involved in the 2009 attack on the Manawan police training centre, by giving him the benefit of doubt.

After hearing arguments of defence counsel Ali Zia Bajwa and recording statements of as many as 22 witnesses, the court exonerated the accused of the charges, as prosecution failed to prove him guilty.

Law-enforcement agencies produced Hijratullah in the court of judge Masood Arshad amid tight security.

On March 31, 2009, seven police trainees and a civilian were killed and 93 others injured in an eight-hour shoot-out with seven terrorists at the Manawan police training centre, six kilometres away from the Wagha border.

At an earlier court hearing Hijratullah denied the allegations, saying he had nothing to do with the attack. “I am a poor scavenger and at the time of the attack I was present in Manawan, from where police picked me up” he added.

He also denied having any links with any terrorist organisation, including the chief of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Baitullah Mehsud, who had claimed responsibility for attack a day after the incident.

During the operation, four terrorists were killed, while three were arrested. Army troops caught Hijratullah from a graveyard nearby, where he was accused of planning to throw a hand-grenade at a helicopter.

A grenade, a wireless set and a passport showing him as an Afghan national were recovered from his custody.

The ATC had already awarded a 10-year sentence to Hijratullah for carrying hand grenades and weapons, while he was acquitted in the Pir Makki bomb blast case.

Chief Public Prosecutor Punjab Chaudhry Muhammad Jahangir said that he would appeal in the LHC.