Accused in poet’s murder case granted bail

Akram Lahori was allegedly involved in murder of Mohsin Naqvi

LAHORE:

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday granted bail to accused Muhammad Ajmal alias Akram Lahori, a leader of banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, involved in a 27-year-old murder case of renowned poet Mohsin Naqvi.

The court ordered the accused to furnish surety bonds of Rs500,000 for availing the relief of bail.

ATC Judge Muhammad Arshad Javed heard the post-arrest bail petition of the accused and announced the verdict after hearing detailed arguments of the parties.

The court had observed that other co-accused had already been granted bail in the matter, therefore, the benefit of bail was being extended to the accused in accordance with rule of consistency.

Ajmal remained behind the bars for 16 years due to his involvement in other murder cases. After the accused approached the court for bail in Mohsin Naqvi murder case, it was found that the record of the 26-year old case was missing.

The record was re-developed after getting old copies of the case from the police station.

Allama Iqbal Town police had registered the case against Muhammad Ajmal and other accused over murder of Mohsin Naqvi in 1996 whereas Counter-Terrorism Department officials had carried out the investigations.

Meanwhile, an ATC sought a comprehensive report about the mental health of an accused, involved in the murder of eight people, till October 30.

Earlier, Institute of Mental Health’s doctor Anil Shafi appeared before the court and submitted that accused Faiz Rasool had been admitted for his mental health examination.

He submitted that a medical board had recommended admitting the accused for a few days to determine his mental health. He assured the court that a detailed report would be submitted on the next date of hearing in compliance with the previous court orders for the purpose.At this, ATC Judge Muhammad Arshad Javed adjourned further proceedings until October 30 and sought a report from authorities.On October 8, 2022, the accused had murdered eight men at Hachar village in Sheikhupura.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2023.