LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Friday dismissed petitions of former provincial minister Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed seeking post-arrest bail in six cases of May 9 riots.

The prosecution alleged that the PTI leader was involved in the planning of violent protests and also present at the scene when Askari Tower in Gulberg and Shadman police station were attacked and burned.

Other four cases against the former minister include burning police vehicles in Gulberg and Cantonment areas.

A prosecutor asked the court to deny bail to the suspect.

A lawyer for Mr Rasheed argued that his client had been implicated in the cases only on political grounds. He said the petitioner was not part of any illegal activity when PTI workers held peaceful protests against the arrest of Imran Khan.

After hearing arguments, ATC-I Judge Manzer Ali Gill dismissed the bail petitions.

Separately, the judge discharged a PTI activist, Muhammad Usman, in the Jinnah House attack case, dismissing a police request to shift him to jail for identification parade.

ATC-III Judge Arshad Javed approved the return of PTI leader Musarrat Jamshed Cheema’s mobile phone subject to furnishing surety bonds of Rs200,000.

The prosecution had opposed the handing over of the seized mobile phone to Ms Cheema, who faces charges in multiple cases of May 9 riots.

A prosecutor stated that the phone was a case property and should not be returned to the suspect before the decision of the cases against her. However, the judge allowed the request of the woman politician with a direction to keep the phone safe.

Published in Dawn, November 23th, 2024