Youhannabad lynching case adjourned

LAHORE

An anti-terrorism court on Monday adjourned the hearing of the case of lynching two Muslims under the suspicion of terrorists after Youhannabad twin church blasts, by January 21.Meanwhile, the same court also dismissed interim bail of one of the accused namely Patras due to continuous absence from the court proceedings.

Previously, the court had framed charges against 20 Christians, accused of burning alive two Muslims considering them terrorists.

The police had stated that the accused were arrested after their identification through video footage and the record of National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).

On March 14, two suicide bombers exploded themselves outside two churches in Youhannabad. These blasts claimed lives of 15 people and two policemen who were deployed there for security. Moreover, more than 80 people received severe injuries. The Christian protested over blasts and unfortunately their protest took an ugly turn when they caught two Muslims from the site over the suspicion that they were involved in blasts and burnt them alive. The victims were identified as Babar Nauman, a garment worker and the other Hafiz Naeem, a glass cutter by profession.

It is pertinent to mention here that Jamaat-ul-Ahrar splinter group of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which had claimed responsibility for the Wagah border attacks also claimed the responsibility of Youhannabad church blast through their spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan.

The Nishtar Town police had registered total four FIRs after this incident. First FIR was against TTP terrorists. The second and third FIR was related to lynching of Muslims. The police had arrested Aslam Masih, Ilyas Masih, Chand Masih, Waris Masih, Faisal Masih, Anmol Masih, Sadaqat Zia Masih, Fayyaz Masih, Sumbal Barkat Masih, Sumbal Dicson, Salamat Masih, Kashif Masih, Zakria Masih, Shehzad Masih, Rafaqat Masih, Rohail Masih, Riaz Masih, Nazeer Masih, Tariq Masih, Irshad Masih, Asif Masih and Ashfaque Masih over the charges of burning alive Naem and Nauman.