Witnesses identify Sehwan blast accused

Court orders protection after witnesses received threats

KARACHI: Two witnesses identified the accused suspects in court during a hearing pertaining to the bomb blast at the Shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan Sharif, which killed 82 people in 2017.

A special anti-terrorism court (ATC) was hearing the case when the shrine’s gaddi nasheen (caretaker) Syed Muhammad Shah and Ali Hassan identified the accused, Nadir Ali and Furqan.

The witnesses said in their statement that they were in the parking lot when they saw Nadir congratulating Furqan. The witnesses added that they later saw the duo on television.

The witnesses also asked for protection, maintaining in applications to the court that they were being threatened. The court ordered the counter terrorism department to provide protection to them.

The court adjourned the hearing till January 9.

Witnesses identify suspect in Sehwan blast case

Court records statements

Another ATC recorded statements of two witnesses in a terror financing case, while summoning two other witnesses for statements on Tuesday (today).

Sub-inspector Muhammad Tahir and ASP Muhammad Aslam recorded their statements against the accused, Abdul Rehman aka Al-Sindhi, on Monday.

Rehman is accused of collecting donations for banned outfits and allegedly has links with terrorist organisations including Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and Jaish-e-Muhammad.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24^th, 2019.