ATC indicts PTI’s Omar Ayub, others in May 9 case

SARGODHA: Legal woes of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders continue to pile up as an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Sargodha indicted National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub Khan in a May 9 case related to the attack on Mianwali’s judicial complex.

Those indicted in Judge Muhammad Naeem’s court, among others, also included Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar. With the accused refusing to admit the charges against them, the court adjourned the hearing till February 28 while summoning the witnesses to the next hearing.

As many as 57 people are named in the case along with 150 unknown individuals in the case concerned, the police said in a statement.

The indictment comes weeks after an ATC in Faisalabad issued non-bailable warrants for Ayub and Senate Opposition Leader Shibli Faraz, and others in a case related to their alleged involvement in the May 9 riots.

The arrest warrants, issued over failure to appear before court in a case registered at Civil Lines Police Station, have also been issued against PTI’s Kanwal Shauzab as well as former party leader Fawad Chaudhry.

Speaking to the media earlier, Ayub censured the federal and provincial government for “destroying the country” and called for fresh elections in the country. The opposition leader complained of the party’s legal woes and claimed that the PTI founder’s wife, Bushra Bibi, was not being allowed to meet the incarcerated prime minister. “The delay in our cases is due to the lack of the supremacy of Constitution in the country,” he remarked.

Addressing the martyrdom of security forces personnel and officers in terrorist attacks, the politician called for the formation of a commission to probe the factors and reasons behind them.