Terror-related section added to Model Town FIR

LAHORE: Police inserted on Monday section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and three more sections of the Pakistan Penal Code into the FIR about the June 17 Model Town incident lodged against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and 19 others on the complaint of Minjahul Quran secretariat.

Earlier, Pakistan Awami Tehrik chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri refused to accept the FIR registered on August 28 because it lacked terrorism charges.

Know more: Model Town case: FIR registered against Nawaz, Shahbaz and 19 others

A PAT lawyer has filed a petition in the Lahore High Court to seek inclusion of section 7 of the ATA in the FIR. The petition is yet to be heard by the court.

An official of the Faisal Town police told Dawn that the PPC’s section 365 (kidnapping or abducting a person with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine him), 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurting, assaulting or wrongfully restraining someone) and 295 B (defiling, etc of Holy Quran) had also been included in the FIR.

He claimed that the investigation officer had inserted the sections into the FIR after reviewing an application filed by PAT lawyers.

The official said police authorities were apparently hesitating to start interrogation of the accused because of sensitivity of the matter. The investigation process is being monitored by the authorities on a daily basis. CCPO retired Captain Amin Wains said that a new joint investigation team would be constituted after the insertion of the ATA section into the FIR. Earlier, he said, the investigation officer had sent notices to the complainant asking him to provide a list of witnesses and facilitate inspection of the crime scene. But he has not yet cooperated with police.

Source: http://www.dawn.com/