ASWJ chief booked under anti-terror law

Police have registered a case against Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi, chief of the banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.

The FIR has been lodged under Section IIEE (4) of the law at the Shah Latif Police Station on behalf of the state. Police said Farooqi had been booked for leaving the city without informing the police as his name was on list of the Fourth Schedule.

A police officer, who is the complainant in the FIR, said Farooqi left for Punjab without informing the police and therefore a case had been registered against him. As part of streamlining the record of suspects on a watch list under the ATA, a provincial committee had recommended a list of 118 individuals associated with different sectarian and proscribed outfits to re-notify them under the Fourth Schedule in 2017.

The Fourth Schedule is a list of proscribed individuals who are suspected to be involved in terrorism and/or sectarianism under Section 11EE of the ATA 1997, which states that whenever the government receives information that an individual is associated with an organisation kept under observation, it may recommend the person’s name for the Fourth Schedule. The name of a suspect is usually placed on the Fourth Schedule for three years, but its placement can be extended if needed.