ATC finally gets challans in riots cases

After a record delay of 198 days, the Rawalpindi district police on Friday finally submitted ‘incomplete’ challans in seven cases of this year’s May 9 violence to an anti-terrorism court (ATC). The police have even been unable to prepare the challans for the three central cases related to the vandalism and arson at the military’s General Headquarters (GHQ) and other sensitive buildings. However, Judge Malik Ijaz Asif of the special ATC has approved all these challans for hearing and issued notices for the distribution of copies to the accused, lawyers and prosecutors as well as indictments. The judge of the court also turned down the requests forwarded by various police stations to reject the approved bails of 121 PTI activists granted to them in connection with the May 9 violence cases and issue their re-arrest warrants. Read May 9 rioters ‘must not go unpunished’ The judge expressed his displeasure over these requests, asking the police why they were bothering the citizens and small-time activists by rounding them up unjustifiably when their bails had been approved. He added that there was no constitutional and legal justification for re-arresting the PTI activists after cancelling their bails. On these grounds, the court dismissed the requests of the investigation teams probing into 19 cases registered at various police stations of Rawalpindi Division in connection with the May 9 riots. The police’s stance was that it had been decided to re-investigate all the accused in the 19 cases of the May 9 riots so their bails should be cancelled and their re-arrest be allowed. They also filed incomplete challans for the attack on an army museum and burning of 6th Road Metro Station. In these challans, 361 PTI activists have been found guilty and requested to be severely punished for vandalism, damaging government property, blocking roads, setting ablaze buildings and vehicles as well as terrorism. The 71 political leaders and activists, have been declared as proclaimed offenders in these challans, include former interior minister Sheikh Rashid; his nephew Sheikh Rashid Shafiq; Punjab Assembly ex-deputy speaker Wasiq Qayyum Abbasi ; former provincial ministers Raja Rashid Hafeez and Basharat Raja; and ex-MPAs Umer Tanveer Butt, Raja Asif and Ejaz Khan. Read more May 9 protests caused Rs1b loss: commissioner The RA Bazaar police could not submit the challan in the case of attack on GHQ and the New Town police failed to submit a challan of the assault on an intelligence agency’s office in Shamsabad on Murree Road. Rawalpindi Regional Police Officer Syed Khurram Ali had reprimanded the investigating officers for not presenting the challans but that appeared to have no positive effects. Out of the 365 accused named in the seven cases that have been presented so far, 320 of them have been released on bail, eight handed over to the army for trial in military courts, and 37 are still under detention. Published in The Express Tribune, November 25th, 2023.