ATC indicts 21 PTI leaders, workers

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday indicted 21 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers, including former minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in a shipment container torching case.

ATC Judge Arshad Javed conducted the trial proceedings at Kot Lakhpat Jail, where incarcerated leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Mian Mehmoodur Rasheed, Omar Sarfraz Cheema and Senator Ijaz Chaudhry were produced.

Party leader Ghulam Mohiuddin Dewan and other accused on bail also appeared before the court.

The court charged the PTI leaders and workers during the proceedings. However, all the accused denied the charges and expressed their intention to contest them.

Subsequently, the court summoned prosecution witnesses to present their testimony at the next hearing scheduled for February 17. The Naseerabad police had registered the case against the leaders and workers over the torching of a container at Kalma Chowk during the May 9, 2023, riots.

Several PTI leaders, including Mian Aslam Iqbal, Hammad Azhar and Hamid Raza Gillani have been declared proclaimed offenders in the case.