PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Friday granted bail to a ‘missing person’ charged in a case of possessing and planting explosives in Kohat around three months ago.

Justice Mohammad Daud Khan of a single-member bench accepted the bail petition of the suspect, Irfanullah, a resident of Khan Mast Colony area in Peshawar, asking him to furnish two surety bonds each valuing Rs200,000.

Shabbir Hussain Gigyai, lawyer for the petitioner, told the bench that the petitioner was arrested by the counter-terrorism department for demanding ransom from a local trader.

He said a local fruit merchant had complained to the police that someone had thrown a letter in his house seeking extortion but threatened him of dire consequences if the demand was not met.

The lawyer said later, the complainant charged the petitioner with throwing the letter in his house.

He said in July, an anti-terrorism court acquitted the petitioner in the case.

The lawyer said the petitioner had filed an application with the ATC seeking orders for the CTD to return his national identity card, cellphone and other items seized at the time of his earlier arrest.

He said the court had allowed that the application following which the petitioner went to the CTD police station on July 28 but he did not return and was kept in illegal detention. The lawyer said the petitioner’s detention was challenged by his brother.

Gigyani claimed during pendency of that petition, the family learned that an FIR was registered at the CTD police station in Kohat on Sept 8 against the petitioner under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Section 5 of the Explosive Substance Act.

He said a fabricated case was developed by the police, who claimed someone had placed two explosive devices near a Kohat hillock and that they had seized them.

The lawyer said the police claimed that the next day, they came to know that a person had visited that place and had been searching for the said devices and when the police went there they spotted the petitioner, Irfanullah, who was at that time also carrying a hand grenade.

He said the petitioner was a missing person and was booked in a concocted case.

BAIL DISMISSED: A single-member bench of the high court on Friday dismissed the bail petition of a Mardan bakery’s owner arrested over gas and power theft.

A standing counsel for the federal government, FM Sabir, told Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth that the petitioner, Ghufranullah, a resident of Charssada, was arrested few weeks ago by personnel of the Federal Investigation Agency accompanied by the officials of Sui Northern gas Pipelines Limited and Peshawar Electric Supply Company Limited.

He added that the raiding team had arrested the petitioner red-handed as he had acquired illegal connections of electricity and natural gas.

The counsel said by stealing the two commodities, the petitioner had inflicted loss to the exchequer and did not deserve to be freed on bail.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2015