Police arrest main accused of Ichhra incident

LAHORE:

 

In a major breakthrough, the Lahore police on Tuesday apprehended the accused involved in the Ichhra Bazaar incident that occurred on February 24.

The suspects are identified as Nadeem Commando, Adil Ali and Altamash.

The accused had harassed the woman and tried to take her life and incited the mob to violence. They went into hiding after the incident and switched off their mobile phones.

The suspects were traced by a joint team of operations and investigation wings through an intelligence-based operation.

The Lahore police maintained that protecting the lives of people was their topmost priority, adding that no one was above the law.

Meanwhile, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) granted pre-arrest interim bail until March 25 to an accused, Maulana Aleemud Din Shakir, in the Ichhra Bazaar incident case.

The court ordered the accused to furnish surety bonds of Rs 100,000 to avail the relief of bail. ATC Judge Arshad Javed heard the bail petition filed by Maulana Aleemud Din Shakir, who appeared alongside his counsel during the proceedings.

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The petitioner’s counsel argued before the court that his client stopped the mob from torture, and the police also appreciated his role. However, despite this, his client was nominated in the case, he submitted, requesting the court to grant interim bail to his client.

The court also granted interim bail until March 25 to another accused, Khalid Shahenshah, in the same case, and ordered him to furnish surety bonds of Rs 100,000 for the purpose.

The Lahore police had lodged the First Information Report (FIR) against dozens of miscreants who harassed the woman wearing a shirt with Arabic-script print a couple of days back in Ichhra Bazaar.

The suspects turning into a charged mob had accused the woman of “blasphemy” as they confused the Arabic alphabet and words with the Quranic verses, endangering her life, as was evident from some mobile phone footage of the incident, which was also highlighted by international media, bringing disgrace to the country.

However, timely action by the police was also lauded in and outside Pakistan when the video clips showed the heroic role of a woman police officer, Gulberg circle ASP Syeda Sheharbano Naqvi, who confronted the mob and rescued the woman.

Athough ASP Naqvi was duly appreciated for showing courage and risking her own life to save the woman, the police high-ups had ignored the role of some other officers who played an important part by engaging the charged mob for an hour, making the rescue operation successful.

In this regard the role of Ichhra SHO Mohammad Bilal Aarbi and Model Town SP Operations Irtaza Komail were also lauded as they were the first to reach the spot and facilitated the woman’s rescue when the mob was advancing towards her, chanting religious slogans.

Following the emergency call, police said, patrolling officer ASI Sajid had rushed to the scene where the mob had besieged a shop wherein the woman had taken shelter fearing lynching.

Meanwhile, the SHO Bilal also reached there at around 1:30pm and immediately put the police personnel on high alert.

According to media reports, the SHO spotted a man carrying a loaded weapon and trying to reach the woman. However, the SHO and his team immediately overpowered the suspect, disarmed him and then unloaded the weapon.

The police personnel led by the SHO formed a multi-layered shield between the mob and the woman as was shown in some mobile phone footage of the incident. Bilal then informed the SP concerned of the situation, who also reached the spot along with additional force.

Meanwhile, ASP Naqvi reached there and daringly rescued the woman from the mob.