Jhelum mob attack: SC grants bail to three

Defence counsel contends clients wrongly arrested, named in FIRs

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted bail to three persons allegedly involved in attacking and burning an Ahmadi place of worship in Jhelum.

An Anti-Terrorism Court and a division bench of the Lahore High Court had earlier denied the accused post-arrest bail. Their current appeal was filed against the LHC order in the apex court.

Justice Gulzar Ahmed, who was heading the three-judge bench, while hearing appeals of the accused namely Adnan Mushtaq, Imran Nazir and Muhammad Mansha, said the attack on the worship place should be considered a crime against the state.

According to police officials an enraged mob of 400 to 500 persons set ablaze the worship place of Ahmadis’ in Kala Gujran, Jhelum district in November 2015 after a report that a few members of the Ahmadi community had desecrated Holy Quran in their chipboard factory. The police arrested around 20 persons and registered case against them.

Counsel for the accused Ansar Nawaz Mirza argued that the police had wrongly registered a case against his clients as they live in the same street where Qadianis congregate for worship, adding that on that day they were going to pick up their children from schools when the police arrested them. Ansar said his clients’ names are not mentioned in the FIR but the police later included them. He also said the co-accused Hamza who had been named in the FIR was allowed bail and Qari Khalil Ahmed also named in the FIR was declared innocent during investigation. He said there is no cogent evidence available against his clients.

After hearing the arguments at length Justice Gulzar granted the accused bail.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2016.