Hate speech case: ASWJ leader released on bail; Lyari gang men remanded to police

Aurangzeb Farooqi was arrested from Taxila on June 6 last year

RAWALPINDI: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday released Aurangzeb Farooqi, a central leader of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), on bail after he submitted surety bonds of Rs100,000 and two personal sureties.

The court had earlier accepted bail plea of Farooqi on June 24, 2015, in a case relating to inciting sectarian hatred and representing and being a member of a banned outfit.

Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Punjab Police had arrested Farooqi, who remained associated with Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, a banned sectarian outfit, from Taxila on June 6, 2015. He was arrested for making hate speech during a Friday sermon at a Taxila mosque. The court indicted Farooqi for terrorism and hate speech on July 7, 2015.

Meanwhile, another anti-terrorism court sent five suspected members of the Lyari gangs on 10-day physical remand.

ATC-II judge Asif Majeed Awan directed the police to produce the suspects again on March 24.

The police arrested the suspects during a raid in Dhok Kissan in Jand tehsil of Attock District in small hours of Sunday. The suspects were identified as Nur Zaman, Ghulam Hussain, Sardar Hussain, Ameer Khan and Ansar Hussain.

The police told the court that Tariq Aziz Khan, a son of Nur Zaman, had been killed along with his gunmen in Karachi. According to the police, Nur Zaman’s two other sons, Yaqoob Khan and Muhammad Khan, were wanted by the law enforcement agencies in Karachi.

The police had also recovered a large quantity of arms and ammunition during the raid.

Election day violence case

The ATC-II judge extended the judicial remand of five suspects arrested for their alleged involvement in the murder of Raja Shoaib Iqbal, nephew of former Punjab law minister Raja Basharat, till March 21.

Iqbal was killed during violent clashes between rival groups during local government elections on December 5, 2015, in union council 86 (Dhamial), Rawalpindi.

Asad Mahmood, PML-N candidate for chairman in the UC, is also among those arrested.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2016.