Murree Road blast: ‘Key suspect’ freed after 10 days

Police had said that Khadim Hussain’ cell phone SIM had been used to detonate the explosive material

LAHORE:

A key suspect of a roadside blast on the Murree Road in Islamabad was freed on Saturday after 10 days in police custody.

The Express Tribune learnt that Khadim Hussain, 36, who was arrested by Islamabad Police on July 15 from Serishta Nashiab, a village in Layyah distict for owning a cell phone SIM (subscriber identity module) card used in the explosion. The blast had occurred near Malpur village along the Murree Road in the Jusricdition of the Secretariat Police Station on June 12.

Police had accused Hussain of having called an official of the Aabpara police station in Islamabad using the SIM card (03017460297), claiming responsibility of the blast and warned them to quit their jobs. He is alleged to have told police that if they did not do so, “a bigger blast will take place somewhere in Islamabad”.

A police raiding party, led by Additional Station House Officer (SHO) PS Secretariat Inspector Farooq Ahmed, had approached the suspect’s house falling in Serishta Nashaib union council, about 16 kilometers from Layyah, without prompting the local Kot Sultan police and arrested Khadim Hussain.

The raiding party informed the local police as well as the local magistrate of Khadim Hussain’s arrest in case FIR No 89/11 registered on June 12.

Islamabad Police had moved to raid Khadim Hussain’s house on July 15 after conducting a thorough background check, besides going through his criminal record. Dozens of local people were interviewed by personnel of Special Branch and Counter Terrorism Department of Punjab Police in this regard, who vouched that the man in question had no criminal record and was not linked with any banned outfit.

It was in this background that the District Police Officer, Layyah, Chaudhry Muhammad Saleem, refused to hand over Khadim Hussain to the Islamabad Police without a court order, which caused a one-day delay.

On July 16, the man was handed over to Islamabad Police by a local magistrate on a one-day transit remand on the written request of police officials handling the case.

During the course of the investigation conducted by police and intelligence agencies, no evidence could be found against the accused, resulting in his acquittal by Rawalpindi’s Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) No2 on Saturday. His uncle, Faqir Ghulam Akbar, told The Express Tribune that they were thankful to the court and the media for helping to prove Hussain’s innocence.





Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2011.