Judge Marth summoned prosecution witnesses on September 24 after framing the charges against him. Police produced him before the court on Friday. Butt pleaded not guilty to the charges and called them ‘baseless.’
He said he had not vandalised private property in Model Town. Butt said the allegations levelled against him were false. He said he was only passing by Minhajul Quran Secretariat when the incident is alleged to have taken place. Butt said he had not damaged any vehicles parked outside it. He said the owners of the vehicles had not complained against him. Butt said the police had registered a case against him on its own accord. An inspector contested his claims. He told the court that he was involved in vandalism and had fired at policemen.
The court had previously provided Butt with case records after Faisal Town police submitted a challan declaring him guilty. Police have failed to determine who asked him to vandalise vehicles parked outside the secretariat.
Video footage showing Butt damaging vehicles was mentioned in the challan to establish his identity. Police had secured a 14-day remand of Butt to determine the identity of those behind him. Lahore High Court (LHC) had granted him bail after he furnished Rs200,000 bonds. Police had rearrested him later.
Butt is alleged to be a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) activist and a local hoodlum. He was arrested after footage showing him damaging vehicles parked outside the secretariat during the Model Town incident surfaced.
Some police officials were seen commending him for ‘his performance’ in the clipping. 14 people were killed in the police-activists clash on the day. Police registered an FIR against 21 people including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on August 28 in terms of a complaint by Minhajul Quran
Published in The Express Tribune, September 20th, 2014.
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