RAWALPINDI, Sept 10: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) here on Wednesday directed the Adiala jail superintendent to submit his reply on September 16 as to why the 12 suspected terrorists were not produced in court and a written reason not submitted about their absence.

ATC-II Judge Sakhi Mohammad Kahot directed the Adiala jail superintendent to file his reply for not producing Intikhab Abbasi, Abid Khan, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Kabir, Qamaruz Zaman, Zafar Ali, Mohammad Zameer, Mohammad Touqir, Mohammad Sajjad, Abdul Sattar, Farhan Mehmood and Rashid Mehmood who are accused of planning to attack the former president, Pervez Musharraf.

The investigators in the case also submitted before the court that the Punjab home department had granted permission to hold the jail trial of the accused due to security reasons.

The law enforcement agencies arrested the accused from the thickly-populated area of Sadiqabad in Rawalpindi and seized three vehicles laden with over 1,000kg explosives from them.

A case (291/08) was registered against the accused under sections 4, 5 of Explosive Act, 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of Pakistan Penal Code and section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act with Sadiqabad police station.

Rawalpindi police along with other security agencies’ personnel cordoned off an area in Dhoke Kala Khan and carried out an early morning search on the tip off. They seized three explosive-laden vehicles and arrested six men. Other arrests were made on the information obtained from the already arrested persons.

Meanwhile, ATC-I Judge Chaudhry Habibur Rehman directed the R.A. Bazaar police to produce a man, suspected of being involved in a suicide attack, in court on September 24, the next hearing date.

Umer Adeel is in Adiala jail and has not been produced in the court on Wednesday. According to the police the accused was arrested from Baraf Khana in Tench Bhatta area on July 2 and two grenades were seized from him.

A case no. 399/8 was registered against him under sections 4 and 5 of explosive act (EA), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).

The police also suspect Umer of being involved in a suicide attack near General Headquarters (GHQ) on September 4, 2007 in which two shopkeepers were killed on the spot and many people in the area or passing by were injured after a suicide bomber blew himself in the R.A. Bazaar street.

In yet another terrorism case the jail authorities failed to produce one of the three accused as he was too ill to be brought to court. The jail authorities submitted a medical report of the accused, Khalid Saifullah, who was not well.

The accused along with two other men was arrested near Ayub Park on May 10 and a suicide vest was recovered from him by Civil Lines police.