Gandapur granted pre-arrest bail

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TOBA TEK SINGH: Special Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Javed Iqbal Sheikh extended on Friday the pre-arrest bail of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur until Oct 17.

Mr Gandapur is facing charges in four separate cases, registered by different Faisalabad police stations under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, related to his alleged involvement in the May 9 riots following the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan.

Gandapur’s lawyer, former attorney general Malik Khalid Shafiq, submitted an application on his behalf, seeking exemption from personal appearance due to official engagements, which the court approved.

The hearing for former Punjab law minister Muhammad Basharat Raja, also implicated in the same cases, was adjourned until Oct 10 after he appeared before the joint investigation team. The same court also extended bail before arrest of former federal minister Asad Umar until Oct 17.

His request for one-day grant of appearance from court was accepted as his counsel gave an application that he had to appear in other courts the same day.

Meanwhile, more than 100 PTI activists, arrested during Wednesday’s protests in Faisalabad, were released by area magistrates and discharged from the FIRs filed against them.

BUSES: On behalf of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, two buses were handed over to the principals of Government Special Education Centres in Iqbal Town and Jaranwala on Friday.

The ceremony was led by Commissioner Silwat Saeed, who announced that the buses would provide pick-and-drop facilities for at least 200 children.

She also highlighted the Punjab government’s efforts for the welfare of special children, including the recent launch of the Himmat Card scheme.

CRASH: Two teenage boys were killed and two others injured in an accident in Faisalabad on Friday.

The incident occurred on the Expressway near Wapda City when their car collided with a trailer and then crashed into a road divider. All four victims were from the same family and residents of Officers Colony in Madina Town.

The deceased were identified as 16-year-old Mahad Usman and 15-year-old Wasi Salman. The injured, 16-year-olds Shahryar Amjad and Ali Hussain, were shifted to Allied Hospital.

JAIL: Faisalabad Additional District and Sessions Judge Rao Mubashir Hassan sentenced Muazzam Ali of Chak 203-RB to 14 years in prison and a fine of Rs40,000 in a narcotics case.

Ali was arrested on May 2 by Kotwali police after more than seven kilo hashish was found in his possession.

TORTURED: Gojra City Police registered a case on Friday against four unidentified people for kidnapping and torturing Muhammad Zahid Akram, a former president of the Gojra Press Club.

In his FIR, Akram claimed he was abducted at gunpoint during an evening walk on Dijkot Road on the night of Sept 15. The suspects allegedly held him in a house for six days, torturing him with electric shocks in retaliation for stories he had published against corrupt individuals. Akram was released after the ordeal, which left him mentally unstable. Police are investigating the case, but no arrests have been made so far.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2024