Justice delayed: Safoora carnage suspects likely to be charged by court soon

The militants allegedly boarded the bus transporting Ismailis and shot dead 45 people

KARACHI: The trial of the brutal attack on the bus transporting members of the Ismaili community is finally on the verge of being properly initiated after an anti-terrorism court hearing the case remanded two recently-arrested suspects, Azhar Ishrat and Hafiz Nasir, to prison in judicial custody, seeking the investigation report by the next hearing on August 19.

The move came three weeks after the three other suspects, Tahir Hussain Minhas, Saad Aziz and Asadur Rehman, were sent to jail with the same order, thus, giving an impression that the case faced yet another delay after an already belated implication.

The trial, though proceeding at a snail's pace, is now moving towards the framing of charges when the court will formally take cognisance of the case and the suspects will be asked if they confess to the crime. The suspects have been accused of plotting, facilitating and carrying out the attack on the community’s bus.

On May 13, at least 45 people were murdered when gunmen boarded their bus in Safoora Goth and opened fire on them indiscriminately, leaving a pool of blood behind. The attack was apparently well-planned as the assailants, according to the investigators, also tried to film its execution.

Pamphlets found at the scene suggested that the assault was carried out by militants affiliated with the Islamic State - the self-styled religious outfit that emerged during the war in Iraq and Syria.

“The suspects had been identified by a number of witnesses during the earlier stage, yet their accomplices’ whereabouts are uncertain and the police are trying their best to arrest them,” said an officer privy to the investigation of the case.

The suspects are also accused of other offences, such as the killing of rights activist Sabeen Mahmud and law enforcers, the attack on the US national, Prof Debra Lobo, bombing of schools and mosques of Shia and Bohra communities.