Accused thief hurls shoe at civil judge

Police say suspect was heartbroken over delay in his case verdict

MULTAN: An under-trial thief hurled a shoe at a civil judge in the courtroom as he had been languishing in jail despite his bail orders being issued.

Cantonment police said on Wednesday that accused Muhammad Ijaz appeared before Civil Judge Zahid Qayum and raised a hue and cry, saying that the court had granted him bail but he was yet not released due to absence of his release orders for the last one year.

The judge was hearing the case when all of a sudden the accused hurled his shoe at him. Soon after the incident, the judge left the courtroom and went to his chamber.

The police immediately arrested Ijaz and took him to the lock up.

The police said that the suspect was heartbroken and angry on the judge for delaying his case verdict.

The police revealed that before throwing the shoe, the accused Ijaz hurled death threats to the judge and demanded acquittal in the theft case.

He also tried to attack the judge but when police officials caught him, he threw his shoe at him, the police claimed.

Meanwhile, DSP cantonment police said that a case had been registered on the complaint of the judge under sections of Anti-Terrorism Act.

He added investigation was underway while the accused was in police custody.

Earlier this month, a man was beaten up and handed over to police for allegedly trying to hurl a shoe at Pakistan Tehreeke-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan as he was getting into his vehicle to leave the venue for a political rally he addressed in Faisalabad.

The suspect was caught by the party workers and Khan’s security staff as he allegedly attempted to open door of the PTI chief’s vehicle. He was handed over to police before being beaten up badly.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 22^nd, 2018.