Police face task of presenting thousands in ATC

About 800 of 2,000 suspected rioters in Mianwali arrested

MIANWALI:

Police suspect that around 2,000 people were involved in the May 9 riots in Mianwali district.

According to officials, the hearing of the cases will be conducted in the Anti-Terrorism Court in Sargodha after the nominated and unknown suspects in the FIRs are arrested.

However, the local authorities are discussing how the suspects would be transported from the prison to Sargodha for the court proceedings.

Mianwali district police have two buses and six prison vans with total capacity of about 175 persons.

Another challenge is presenting all the suspects in the court.

An official said while speaking to The Express Tribune that only marking the attendance of all the suspects might take the whole day.

The prosecutor will have to discuss the role of each suspect and witnesses one by one and the case proceedings may go on for years to fulfill all the requirements of justice.

Transporting the suspects, presenting them in the court, recording their statements and cross-examining them is set to be a major challenge.

Meanwhile, the Mianwali Central Jail lacks the capacity to accommodate all the suspects.

There already are about 2,200 prisoners, while the capacity is 1,200.

The number of arrested supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the district has crossed 800.

The city and Saddar police station lockups, and the Musa Khel jail are full.

The party's activists are also locked up in Chhadru, Harnoli, Van Bhacharan, Kandiyan Kamar Mashani, Kala Bagh and Dawood Khel police stations.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2023.