Daily Times

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Saturday indicted three more suspects including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Zain Qureshi in the GHQ attack case related to May 9 riots.

The hearing was conducted by ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah while PTI founder Imran Khan was also produced in the courtroom.

The hearing was also attended by Special Public Prosecutors Naveed Malik, Zaheer Shah, PTI lawyers Faisal Malik and Faisal Chaudhry.

Alongside Zain, Raja Nasir Mehfooz and Raja Shehbaz Tiger have also been indicted. Zain did not attend the hearing.

The total number of indictments reached 116 after the new development.

Meanwhile, prosecution pleaded with the court to order blocking identity cards of other accused including Bilal, Ejaz, Asim, and Shaheer Sikandar.

This came a day after the ATC rejected the acquittal pleas of PTI leaders including incarcerated party founder-chairman Imran and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood, terming the petitions “infructuous” after indictment of the accused.

The suspects, who had been indicted in the case, included the former ruling party’s central leaders including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Kyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Kanwal Shauzab, Shehryar Afridi, Shibli Faraz.

Ex-PM Imran had also been formally charged for his involvement in the arson and vandalism at the Pakistan Army’s headquarters.

At least 70 PTI leaders were accused of planning the May 9 events and inciting the workers and supporters to attack military and government installations following the arrest of the ousted prime minister by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

During the protests, the miscreants targeted the civil and military installations including – Jinnah House and the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. The military termed May 9 “Black Day” and decided to try the protesters under the Army Act.

The PTI founder, however, blames the “agencies men” for arson and shooting in some areas during the May 9 violent protests.

The then-government as well as the one currently ruling have time and again blamed the PTI founder and the party’s senior leadership for engineering allegedly “organised” attacks on military installations.

Despite securing relief in major cases, the former premier still faces a number of cases related to the May 9 incidents which are being heard by different anti-terrorism courts.