April 9 tragedy: Accused in Tahir Plaza in custody till 6th

KARACHI:

Wamiq Siddiqui and Syed Nadeem Hussain Zaidi, two men arrested in the Tahir Plaza attack case, were remanded to judicial custody till October 6 on Monday.

According to the prosecution, on April 9, 2008, both men, along with dozens of other miscreants, attacked Tahir Plaza known as lawyers plaza as it houses offices for dozens of lawyers, members of the Karachi Bar Association.

The attackers threw some highly inflammable material which not only burned rapidly but also had the capacity to suck all of the oxygen in the space. As a result, five victims, including two lawyers, were burnt beyond recognition. The attack was allegedly undertaken to stop lawyers from protesting in support of the then non-functional Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.

Siddiqui and Zaidi were sent on remand by Justice Maqbool Baqar in his capacity as the administrative judge for the anti-terrorism courts.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2011.