Court acquits three terror suspects

PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court on Friday acquitted three suspected terrorists of terrorism charges. The anti-terrorism court judge, Sabir Khan, acquitted Munir Shakir, Arif and Faridoon of terrorism charges.

The court observed the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against the suspects. Shabbir Hussain Gigyani, counsel for the accused, submitted that the Counter-Terrorism Department arrested the suspects on September 27, 2017 near Mathra village in the provincial capital.

As per the first information report, he said, the police claimed to recover 25 kilogram explosive devices, safety fuse, detonators and detonating cards from the possession of the suspects.

He said the case was registered under Section-7 of Anti-Terrorism Act and Explosive Substance Act. The lawyer submitted one accused Munir Shakir had been in illegal detention of the law-enforcement agencies since July 11, 2017.

However, the First Information Report mentioned he had been arrested on September 27, 2017, which showed he had been implicated in the case. He said Munir Shakir's detention had also been challenged in the Peshawar High Court. The lawyer contended there were glaring contradictions in statements of witnesses and conflict in bomb disposal unit's report. He requested the court to acquit the suspects as they had been falsely implicated.