Nine terror suspects granted pre-arrest bail

PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday confirmed pre-arrest bail to nine terror suspects from North Waziristan, who were charged with raising fund for a banned organisation in a foreign country.

Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) judge, Tariq Yousafzai, confirmed the bail to the terror suspects, who were charged by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) under section 11(N) Anti-Terrorism Act.

The CTD lodged FIR against 28 suspects nominated in the FIR under section 11(N) Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

The court confirmed bail before arrest (BBA) of nine suspects from Dattakhel North Waziristan, including Sahib Rahim, Muhammad Ullah, Din Sahib, Boghi Rehman, Khaliq Noor, Zahid, Zar Wali Khan, Abdur Rehman and Shaporur Rehman.

Saifullah Muhib Kakakhel, counsel for the suspects, submitted before the court that the accused/petitioners were brought to Pakistan from Bahrain in January this year and then kept in custody of secret agencies and CTD for over 5 months.

Subsequently, he argued, the suspects were released after thorough investigation and law-enforcement agencies failed to prove the charges against them.

However, he said that even after release, the CTD lodged FIR against the suspects.

He argued that there is no need for further investigation and interrogation as they were released by the authorities after clearance.

The lawyer explained that the CTD allegations against the petitioners are that they were funding TTP through bank and hawala/hundi and the group was operating through one Faizullah.

He argued that they were doing their job in Bahrain and hail from labour class. Due to these false allegations, he said, the petitioners lost their job.

He submitted that there was no incriminating substance available on record, which could connect the accused/petitioners with the commission of the offence.

The lawyer submitted that CTD had requested for information about their accounts and properties but nothing was available on record and thus the law-enforcement agencies failed to prove that they had funded TTP and built properties.

The lawyer submitted that the petitioners’ connection was also checked with other accused involved in money laundering, hawala/hundi and fund raising against the state, i.e FIR No.47/2019 in which PTM activist Gulalai Ismail and her family members had been charged, but no evidence was produced in the court in this respect.