Parliament attack case: ATC grants bail to five PTI leaders

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) granted bail to leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Asad Umar, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Shafqat Mehmood, Arif Alvi and Raja Khurram Nawaz in the Parliament and Pakistan Television (PTV) attack cases.

ATC judge Shahrukh Arjmand granted bail when PTI leaders appeared in person before the court on Thursday and requested for an interim bail. The prosecutor disagreeing with PTI’s request pleaded for arrest of the accused for further investigation in the case.

Imran Khan had been declared a proclaimed offender in the SSP Asmatullah Junejo case. The police officer was beaten up by protesters at the Constitution Avenue, Islamabad on Sept 1, 2014, less than 24 hours into his first day on the job. Hundreds of protesters allegedly belonging to the PTI and PAT had also briefly seized the state broadcaster on Sept 1, 2014 at a time when the country was under intense political crisis spearheaded by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Pakistan Awami Tehreek chief Tahirul Qadri and others.