Non-bailable arrest warrants issued for PTI leaders including CM Gandapur in GHQ attack case

In a major development, non-bailable arrest warrants were issued for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and other PTI leaders by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Rawalpindi on Saturday in a case related to the attack on the army’s General Head­quarters (GHQ) during May 9 mayhem last year.

ATC Judge Amjad Ali Shah ordered the Rawalpindi city police officer (CPO) to produce all the suspects before the court on December 10.

Those named in the warrants included PTI leaders Shibli Faraz, Shehryar Afridi, Zain Qureshi, Tahir Sadiq and Taimoor Masood.

The development came two days after jailed PTI founder Imran Khan along with dozens of other PTI workers were indicted in the GHQ attack case related to May 9 violent protests.

A total of 100 people, including former interior minister Sheikh Rashid, were indicted in the GHQ attack case — which was registered at RA Bazar Police Station. However, Imran among other indicted leaders denied charges against them.

Over 143 individuals, including Khan, were named as accused in the case, while 23, including Zulfi Bukhari, Shahbaz Gill and Murad Saeed, were listed as fugitives. Additionally, all accused have been prohibited from travelling abroad.

At least 70 PTI leaders were accused of planning the May 9 events and inciting the workers and supporters to attack military and government installations following the arrest of the ousted prime minister by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The May 9 riots were triggered almost across the country after the deposed prime minister Khan's arrest in the £190 million settlement case. Hundreds of PTI workers and senior leaders were put behind the bars for their involvement in violence and attacks on military installations last year.

During the protests, the miscreants targeted the civil and military installations including — the Jinnah House and General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. The military termed May 9 "Black Day" and decided to try the protesters under the Army Act.