12 indicted in Musharraf attack case

Published September 24, 2008

RAWALPINDI, Sept 23: Twelve suspected terrorists were indicted on Tuesday for planning to carry out suicide attacks on former president Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf and other important personalities in the country. However, they pleaded not guilty.

Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC-II) Judge Sakhi Mohammad Kahot charged them with terrorism, criminal conspiracy and keeping explosive materials unlawfully but the accused said the charges against them were not true.

The judge had been conducting the trial of Intikhab Abbasi, Abid Khan, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Kabir, Qamaruz Zaman, Zafar Ali, Mohammad Zameer, Mohammad Tauqir, Mohammad Sajjad, Abdul Sattar, Farhan Mehmood and Rashid Mehmood in jail.

The court put off the hearing till October 7 for recording the evidences in the main case and reserved its decision in a petition filed by three accused Mohammad Zameer, Mohammad Tauqir and Mohammad Sajjad.

In their petition, they had sought court intervention alleging they were implicated in the case as the investigation officers were not recording their statements.

Security agencies arrested the accused on June 1, 2008 from Sadiqabad and seized three vehicles with over 1,000kg explosives.

On a tip-off, police cordoned off an area in Dhoke Kala Khan, along with other security agencies and carried out an pre-dawn search and seized the vehicles and arrested six men. Other arrests were made on the information obtained from the arrested persons.

Meanwhile, the New Town Police submitted the chargesheet (challan) against six men allegedly involved in a suicide attack on the official bus of an intelligence agency outside Hamza Camp (old Ojhri Camp), near Faizabad on November 24 last year.

In his report under section 173 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) the New Town SHO submitted that the accused Shafiqur Rehman, Mohammad Mazharul Haq, Niaz Ahmed, Syed Abdul Majid, Syed Abdul Saboor and Syed Abdul Basit all three brothers were arrested from the back side of Rawalpindi Arts council, along with three suicide vests and other explosive material. They were planning to carry out suicide attacks on the important personalities of the country.

During the identification parade in the Adiala jail an official of an intelligence establishment recognized the accused and it was learnt during the subsequent investigation that the vehicles used in the twin suicide attacks on November 24, one outside Hamza Camp and other on the main gate of army general headquarters (GHQ), were purchased by Mazharul Haq from the three brothers of Lahore and handed over the vehicles to the accused Niaz and Shafique.

It was further learnt that Mazhar got registered a criminal case against unknown men for snatching a white Suzuki Carry and a Suzuki Baleno car with Sanda Police Station in Lahore on November 11 last year. The investigators also learnt the three brothers were present in Rawalpindi on July 1 to collect the remaining amount of Rs400,000 from Mazhar when they were arrested.

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