Minar-e-Pakistan incident: Court releases 98 suspects

LAHORE: A local court in Lahore Friday ordered the release of 98 suspects —taken into custody for the Minar-e-Pakistan incident probe — after the victim could not identify them during an identity parade. At the outset of the hearing, the police produced 98 suspected individuals before Judicial Magistrate Hassan Sarfaraz Cheema. The police informed the court that the suspects had been taken into custody for manhandling TikToker Aisha Akram inside the Greater Iqbal Park (Minar-e-Pakistan) on Independence Day. “Akram identified only six out of the 104 suspects presented during an identity parade,” maintained the police. At this, the court dismissed the 98 suspects, directing the police to release them.

Meanwhile, the Punjab deputy inspector-general said that the suspects identified by the victim are the fundamental characters involved in the incident.

He said that all the 400 men nominated as suspects in the First Information Report (FIR) are not involved in the case. However, the investigation is underway and other culprits will also be arrested soon, he added.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Human Rights presented a progress report on the case probe before the Senate's Standing Committee on Human Rights.

According to the report, six suspects — who had been identified by Akram during a second identity parade — were later arrested.