Court moved against terror suspect’s arrest

PESHAWAR: The relatives of a terror suspect on Wednesday moved the Peshawar High Court (PHC) against his arrest by the security forces.
The terror suspect was accused of being involved in the brazen attack on the Army Public School and College on December 16 last year.One Qudrat Shah, a resident of Mohallah Quresh in Hangu district, filed the writ petition through his lawyer Muhammad Arif Jan in which he sought the whereabouts of his son Abdul Baseer, who was recently released by an Anti-Terrorism Court on bail in a terrorism case.
The petitioner submitted that after the release of his son on bail, some personnel of the security forces came to his house and questioned his release. He submitted that on February 21, 2015 local elders handed him over to the security forces at a checkpost in Doaba in Hangu. The petitioner claimed that the military officials told them that the accused would be freed after interrogation.
The petitioner said the security forces told him the next day that Abdul Baseer was involved in the Peshawar school attack. He said the military authorities told him that his son had prepared suicide jackets for the attackers of the army-run school.
Qudrat Shah believed that his son, whose whereabouts were not known to him, was not involved in the terrorist attack as he was incarcerated at the Central Prison Peshawar when the APS attack took place.
The petition stated that the missing Abdul Baseer was working with his father at his electronics workshop. He said that his son had been charged with another terrorism case and handed over to the security forces on April 17, 2010.
He said the security forces released his son on June 16, 2011 after being cleared. It was stated in the petition that on January 7, 2012 Abdul Baseer was again arrested in connection with a terrorism case lodged on May 6, 2010 at Town Police Station in Peshawar. He was charged under Section 5 of the Explosives Substance Act and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The petition claimed that Abdul Baseer was named by other accused that he prepared suicide jackets along with them.Qudrat Shah maintained the Anti-Terrorism Court’s judge Muhammad Zafar released him his son on bail on February 2 after submitting Rs4,00,000 as guaranty.
The petitioner contended that how his son could be involved in the APS attack as he was arrested in 2012 and was imprisoned at the Central Prison Peshawar till February 4, 2015. The Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Home and Tribal Affairs Department secretary, Kohat deputy commissioner and the in-charge of the checkpost in Doaba in Hangu were made respondents in the petition.
As per the Anti-Terrorism Court’s order regarding the release of Abdul Baseer on bail, the court stated that after hearing arguments from the petitioner’s lawyer and the public prosecutor, the case of the petitioner needed further probe and inquiry. The ATC gave many reasons for the release of the suspected terrorist that included that he was not charged in the FIR by name.