Military court transfers Justice Maqbool Baqar attack case back to ATC

There are 71 witnesses in the case including police officials and eye-witnesses

KARACHI: A military court has transferred the case pertaining to the attack on Supreme Court Justice Maqbool Baqar back to the Special Anti-Terrorism Court no. 6 after a passage of four years, The Express Tribune has learnt.

On Tuesday, the ATC issued notices to jail officials to present the accused for the next hearing on December 6, while also directing the Counter Terror Department officials to present the police file. The accused nominated in the case include Masoom Bala, Muhammad Mawia and Yasir Arafat alias Moosa, among others. All of the accused are affiliated with a banned outfit. Besides, there are 71 witnesses in the case, who include police officials and eye-witnesses.

Series of transfers

When the case was initially brought to the court in 2013, an administrative judge had transferred it to ATC no. 3. Soon after, police wrote a letter to the home department, raising concerns over security, considering it was such a high-profile case.

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The case was subsequently transferred to Sukkur in 2014 in view of the security threats and the accused were shifted to Sukkur. The case was transferred again to ATC no. 1 in Karachi on April 21, 2014, as directed by the Sindh High Court. The case was then transferred to ATC no. 6 in the same year and then to the military court on November 6, 2015.

Case history

According to the case challan, Justice Maqbool Baqir, who was a Sindh High Court judge at the time, was returning home from court with his driver and security detail on June 26, 2013, when a powerful explosive, placed in a motorcycle near Burns Road, was detonated using a remote control. Nine persons, including Rangers officials, police officials and others were killed in the attack, while 21 others were injured. The attack was orchestrated to target Justice Baqir by an extremist group affiliated with a banned religious outfit.

The challan further states that Police Sub-Inspector Farooq Sati had arrested an accused, identified as Abu Bakr alias Masoom Bala alias Khaksaar, from Gulistan-e-Jauhar on July 11, 2013. The accused, Abu Bakr, had revealed during interrogation that Hafiz Bashir Ahmed Laghari was involved in the attack, besides several recent incidents of terrorism.

When police conducted a raid to arrest Hafiz Bashir, the suspect and his accomplices opened fire at the police party. The police retaliated with gunfire and managed to arrest Bashir in an injured condition. Bashir later succumbed to his injuries, but his accomplices, Mawia and Qari Amin, were arrested.

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Furthermore, the challan states that the accused, Abu Bakr, had revealed that the attack on Justice Baqir's squad was planned at Hafiz Bashir's home. Abu Bakr, Hafiz Bashir, Asif Chotu, Sajid, Yasir Moosa, Mawia and two other unidentified men were involved in planning the attack. Abu Bakr's name was drawn when the lots were cast, the challan states.

The identity parade of Abu Bakr was done before a judicial magistrate on July 24 and his statement was recorded under Section 164. In his statement, Abu Bakr had confessed to the crime and revealed the names of the mastermind and other accomplices.

The CCTV footage of the incident also revealed that the mastermind of the attack, Hafiz Bashir, was present at the site at the time of the explosion and booklets of proscribed literature were found from his home. The bomb used in the attack was also prepared at his home.

The other accused nominated in the case, Rizwan alias Asif alias Chotu alias Umair, Attaur Rehman alias Naeem Bukhari alias Bilal, Sajid and Qari Khalil are on the run.

The case will be taken up for hearing in ATC no. 6 on December 6.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2019.