Sindh Culture Day clash: police get to interrogate 12 suspects

ATC judge admonishes investigator for framing terrorism charges

KARACHI:

The administrative judge of Anti-terrorism court on Monday admonished a police investigation officer for presenting 12 suspects arrested from Sharae Faisal on Sunday under terrorism charges, saying, "this is not a case of terrorism."

The suspects were picked up from a Sindh Culture Day rally that turned violent when police stopped it.

The judge sharply criticized the investigation officer (IO), remarking that "he is not an IO but a puppet who will do whatever he is told."

Prosecutor Ali Raza said the suspects are accused of blocking Sharae Faisal, damaging private and public property, raising slogans against the state, and causing harm to vehicles including a police mobile and a Red Bus. The ATC judge called the complainant and the investigator 'jahil' or ignorant for inserting terrorism charges in the FIR. The judge told the IO to take the suspects to judicial magistrate saying, "it's not a matter of ATC. This is a simple Section 144 violation-where did terrorism come from?"

Remanded

Judicial Magistrate South Sajjad Ali Jamali on Monday handed over 12 suspects to police on a one-day physical remand to police in a case related to rioting, vandalism, police encounter, and attempted murder on Sharae Faisal. The suspects were produced before the magistrate for remand.

During the hearing, the court noted that terrorism charges had already been removed from the case. The magistrate told the defence counsel that the remaining sections were bailable and asked them to satisfy the court particularly regarding Section 324 (attempted murder). The defence argued that no one was injured in the incident and no weapons had been recovered from the suspects.

The court then questioned the investigating officer (IO) about the basis of the charges. The IO stated that the FIR had been lodged the previous night and he needed to record witness statements, requesting one or two days of remand to complete the investigation. The magistrate, in a lighter moment, asked the IO how many children he had. Inspector Sajid replied that he had three sons. The magistrate remarked whether he ever imagined such a situation for his own children. The IO responded that he was also bound to follow the law.

The court further inquired why Section 324 had been applied when no one was injured. The IO confirmed that the incident caused no injuries and submitted the USB footage of the event to the court.

Rejecting the defence's request to dismiss the case, the court granted police a one-day physical remand of the 12 accused. The suspects include Shahroz, Salman, Shaman Ali, Irshad, Zubair Ahmed, Ali Muhammad, Ubaidullah, Zulfiqar Ali, Sajid Hussain, Owais, and Athar Ali.