Taxila Church Attack: SC reserves judgment on appeals of 3 convicts

Police department comes under heavy criticism and is told to shape up.

LAHORE: A full bench of the Supreme Court reserved judgment on the appeals of three convicts in the Taxila church grenade attack in 2002 which left four women dead and 25 injured. The court expressed its disappointment in the manner the investigation was carried out and directed the Punjab IG Police to improve investigation system and train investigators in modern methods of dealing with terrorism cases.

A three member bench headed by Chief Justice ( CJ) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was hearing the appeals of the three men convicted in the case. The bench saw lacunas in the investigation. Convicts Saifur Rehman, Muhammad Ayaz and Abu Bakr were given death sentences by an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi on March 31, 2004. The Lahore High Court confirmed the verdict on December 12, 2006. The three then appealed the SC.

The court was astonished that the Investigating Officer (IO), Inspector Saadat Mahdi, left many loopholes and bypassed material facts in the probe. The court felt that it appeared as if the IO only wanted the convicts heading to the gallows.

The CJ seeking action against the IO was astounded that he was promoted to DSP. The CJ strongly chided the IO and deplored the poor investigation system of the police.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2010.