D-Chowk rally: Court grants police request to probe 573 accused

RAWALPINDI: Judge Amjad Ali Shah of Special Court No. 1 has permitted the interrogation of the accused in Rawalpindi.

This decision follows applications filed by the Lahore and Faisalabad police seeking the detention and transfer of 573 accused individuals from the Rawalpindi Division to their respective districts.

The hearings on the new applications have been postponed to January 9 and 11, respectively.

During the hearing, Sher Afzal Marwat, Yasir Shah, and Malik Waheed Anjum, along with other defence lawyers, argued for the dismissal of the police applications. They maintained that the police’s request was illegal as the accused were already on judicial remand, and any interrogation should occur within the jail premises.

On this occasion, the Lahore and Faisalabad police requested a postponement of their applications, citing concern about potential untoward incidents during the transfer of such a large number of accused individuals. Accepting their request, the court adjourned the hearing on the extradition applications for the Lahore cases to January 9 and for the Faisalabad and Jaranwala cases to January 11.

In their applications, the investigating officers from Lahore and Faisalabad claimed that the accused, currently on judicial remand in various Rawalpindi Division police station cases, are also wanted in cases registered in their districts and require extradition for further investigation.

Inspector Mumtaz Hussain of Race Course Police Station argued that 200 accused, including Bilal Khan, who is on judicial remand in Case No. 896/24 of Hazro Attock Police Station, are also wanted in Case No. 410 of March 14 last year. The application further requested the transfer of 200 accused, including Gohar Rehman, on judicial remand in various cases, such as Case Nos. 637 and 640 of Sadar Hassan Abdal Police Station, Case No. 896 of Hazro Attock Police Station, and Case No. 212 of Hanjra Police Station, to Lahore.