PESHAWAR, May 16: An anti-terrorism court here on Monday issued non-bailable arrest warrants of 15 prosecution witnesses, mostly police officers, as they did not turn up in eight cases against chief of Tehrik Nifaz Shariat-i-Muhammadi (TNSM), Maulana Sufi Muhammad and several others.

It is learnt that the court presided over by Asim Imam, a judge of the ATC at Swat, also ordered to attach salaries of the serving police officers for their failure to appear as witnesses. The court fixed May 23 for the next hearing.

Due to security reasons, the judge has been conducting trial in different cases against Maulana Sufi Mohammad and scores of his associates inside the Peshawar Central Prison. These cases were mostly registered in police stations of Swat and Lower Dir districts over 15 years ago.

Advocate Adil Majeed appeared for Maulana Sufi Mohammad, who had earlier declined to engage a counsel following which the court ordered that counsel should be arranged for him on state expense.

It is learnt that at the very outset of the proceedings, the court was informed that the prosecution witnesses including DSP Sanober Khan, sub-inspector Sher Gul, Alamzeb Khan and others did not turn up. The court took exception to it and issued their arrest warrants.

The court was informed that some of these witnesses had already been retired from police service.

Meanwhile, in a bail petition of a senior member of TNSM, Maulana Khalid, the court ordered production of his medical report. The petitioner has requested for on bail on medical grounds as he claimed to be suffering from different ailments.

These cases were mostly registered under section 302 (murder), 120-A (criminal conspiracy), 120-B (punishment for criminal conspiracy), 186 (obstructing public servant from doing his job) and some other sections of Pakistan Penal Code.

Some of these cases were registered in 1994 when the tehrik had stepped up its movement for the enforcement of Sharia in Malakand Division. During the same period thousands of activists had blocked the Peshawar-Swat highway at Malakand Top for several days.

Later, its armed supporters had occupied several government installations in Swat.

To dislodge them from those installations the then government of Pakistan People's Party had launched an operation.

One of the cases was registered at Mingora police station pertaining to the killing of PPP MPA Badiuz Zaman at a hotel in Swat allegedly by TNSM activists.