District courts’ attack: Judicial body to present report next week

Responsibility fixed on police officials.

ISLAMABAD:

The judicial commission constituted to probe the gun-and-bomb attack on the city district courts will submit a report to the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) next week.

The commission, headed by Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui, recorded the statements of witnesses including judicial officers, lawyers and court staff, who were present during the attack. It also examined reports submitted by the Islamabad chief commissioner, Inspector General of the Islamabad Police Sikandar Hayat and the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, and recorded statements of officials.

A controversy was generated when the interior minister claimed that Judge Rafaqat Awan was killed by his own guard, who had panicked during the attack on the district courts. The guard, however, denied the allegation when he was produced before an anti-terrorism court last week.

Sources told The Express Tribune, that the commission fixed responsibility on the police. It was reported in the media that police officials deputed at the courts, according to the beat chart were absent from duty, leaving the field clear for terrorists. It has also recommended the relocation of the courts from the congested F-8 Markaz. It concluded its proceedings in less than two weeks.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2014.