ATC moves to declare Afridi absconder

Issues Section 87 notices after police report failure to arrest pair linked to May 9-10 violence

PESHAWAR:

An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Saturday initiated proceedings to declare dysfunctional Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf social media activist Aamir Chamkani as absconders in the case related to the attack, vandalism and arson at Radio Pakistan Peshawar during the May 9 and 10 events.

The court ordered issuance of notices under Section 87 of the Code of Criminal Procedure after police submitted a report stating the two nominated accused could not be located. The development came during a hearing of the Radio Pakistan attack case, in which Sohail Afridi, Aamir Chamkani, Rahman Jalal, Abbas, Attaullah, Hamza Ghazanfar, Haroon, Mashhood Hassan, Khalid Khan Afridi and others have been named. Police have so far declared the accused as absconders.

DFC Muhammad Iqbal of East Cantonment police station informed the court that arrest warrants issued under Section 204 CrPC against Muhammad Sohail Afridi and Muhammad Aamir Khan could not be executed despite all efforts. After reviewing the police report, the court directed that notices under Section 87 be issued against both. It also ordered a notice to the concerned police official for recording a confirmatory statement.

According to the prosecution, the absconder notices will be affixed at the residences and offices of the two accused. If they still fail to appear, proceedings under Section 512 CrPC will be initiated to formally declare them proclaimed offenders, after which permanent arrest warrants are likely to be issued.

Separately, former provincial ministers Irfan Saleem, Kamran Bangash and Taimur Saleem appeared in court in connection with their interim bails. Their counsel, Inamullah Yousafzai, submitted an application regarding their attendance.

More than 80 accused have been nominated in the Radio Pakistan attack case, whose trial is underway in the Anti-Terrorism Court. Sohail Afridi was added as an accused on the request of Radio Pakistan.

Separately, the Accountability Court in Peshawar on Saturday rejected the bail application of Abdul Basit, a junior clerk of the Communication and Works (C&W) Department, who is in custody in connection with the multi-billion-rupee Upper Kohistan scandal, and ordered that he remain in jail.

The bail plea was heard by Accountability Court Judge Muhammad Hamid Mughal.

During the hearing, NAB Special Prosecutor Habibullah Baig informed the court that the accused, Abdul Basit, was posted as a junior clerk in the C&W Department in Kohistan and had allegedly withdrawn funds from the government treasury through forged documents.