Remand of TLP leaders extended

LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Saturday extended the judicial remand of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) Chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi and others by March 30.

The police produced TLP leaders Khadim Hussain Rizvi, Afzal Qadri, Pir Ejaz Ashrafi, Farooqul Hasan, Shafqat Jamil and Waheed Noor, booked on sedition and terrorism charges, before the court amid tight security as heavy contingents of law enforcement agencies were deployed to secure the court premises.

Previously, the court had distributed copies of the challan among the accused. However, the court couldn’t frame charges against said accused on Saturday as the judge was on leave. The court has extended the judicial remand of Khadim Rizvi and others by March 30. The charges are like to be framed against the accused on the next hearing.

A large number of TLP workers were present outside the ATC premises during the court proceedings.

As per case details, the government had taken Khadim Rizvi and others in protective custody on November 23, 2018, from Lahore. Later, a letter was written to Home Department by the Civil Lines police stating that the accused were nominated in a case and their custody was required for investigations. The Home Department while responding to the letter ended the detention of the accused and handed them over to Civil Lines police, which earlier produced them before the court for their physical remand which ended on January 22. The case was registered against the accused on October 30. The TLP leaders had given a call of protests against the acquittal of blasphemy accused Aasia Masih.