Lock-up murder suspect remanded in custody
An anti-terrorism court has handed over a man accused of killing two brothers in a judicial lockup to Islampura police on 10-day physical remand.
The police produced Kafeel Qadeer before the ATC, seeking his remand to investigate the incident that took place in the district and session courts. The judge accepted the investigation officer’s plea and remanded him in police custody.
The man was arrested on charges of gunning down two bothers on Monday in the judicial lockup.
Lawyers raised questions about the security arrangements at thecourts after the incident. “How did a person along with a weapon enter the judicial lockup,” a lawyer wondered.
District and Sessions Judge Sajjad Hussain Sindhar sought a report from the DIG operations on the incident. The DIG admitted a loophole in the security measures as result of which the incident occurred.
Qadeer allegedly gunned down Riasat Nazeer and Bilal Nazeer, who were facing a murder case. Initial investigation showed that the matter was of old enmity.
In a similar incident on August 11, a man facing murder charge was shot dead outside a courtroom at the sessions court, allegedly by the complainants. Shahdara police had registered a case against Muhammad Nawaz on charges of killing his relative, Javed, over a property dispute. Nawaz had arrived at the court for hearing of his petition for pre-arrest bail in the case. He was about to enter the courtroom when the assailant shot him in the head.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2020.