118 stand trial in May 9 GHQ attack case

The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) here on Wednesday started the trail of 118 accused indicted in the General Headquarters (GHQ) attack case, including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan.

During the hearing in the court of ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah, four prosecution witnesses recorded their statements. The witnesses included police Assistant Sub-Inspector Saqib and constables Shakeel, Sajjad and Yasir.

They also produced evidences recovered from the accused that included helmet of anti-riot police, petrol bomb, pieces of broken structure of soldiers' sculptures, mobile phone, sticks, party flags and caps, wires and match box.

The witnesses also identified accused during the hearing. The mobile phone recovered from an accused was turned on in the court to which the defence lawyer raised objection.

One of the witnesses testified that accused Raja Basharat was leading the protest outside the GHQ and he was instigating the protesters to take revenge of PTI founder Imran Khan's arrest from the army.

The court room was packed with the accused, lawyers and media representatives.

The court recorded the witnesses' statements through a sound system due to noisy atmosphere of the court room.

During the trial, the prosecution and defence teams exchanged harsh words. The court also summoned five more prosecution witnesses in the next hearing scheduled on January 18.

Meanwhile, another ATC in Lahore indicted 32 accused, including PTI leaders Yasmeen Rashid, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed and Aijaz Chaudhry for ransacking and setting PML-N office in Model Town on fire during May 9 rampage.