Ichhra Incident: 3 Accused Get Bail, 2 Declared Innocent

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday granted post-arrest bail to three accused involved in the Ichhra Bazaar incident

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Mar, 2024) An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday granted post-arrest bail to three accused involved in the Ichhra Bazaar incident.

The court directed the accused, Muhammad Nadeem, Adil Sarwar, and Altamash Saqlain, to furnish surety bonds of Rs 100,000 each to avail the relief of bail.

ATC Judge Arshad Javed conducted the proceedings on post-arrest bail petitions filed by the accused and announced the verdict upon completion of arguments by the parties. The accused had filed bail petitions, stating that the court had remanded them to jail and their custody was no longer required for police investigations. They requested the court to grant bail as the charges against them were bogus.

Meanwhile, the court disposed of bail petitions filed by two accused, Maulana Azeemud Din Shakir and Khalid Shahenshah, after they were withdrawn.

In response to court notices on the bail petitions of the accused, the police filed an investigation report stating that the arrest of the accused was unnecessary as they were found innocent during the investigations.

At this, the petitioners' counsel sought permission from the court to withdraw the bail petitions.

Subsequently, the court disposed of the bail petitions after they were withdrawn.

The accused had filed pre-arrest bail petitions, claiming they had intervened to stop the mob from torturing the woman, and the police had also appreciated their role. However, despite this, they were nominated in the case.

It is pertinent to mention that the incident took place a few weeks ago, and the Ichhra police had lodged an FIR against dozens of identified and unidentified suspects. The police stated that the accused had gathered a mob and not only harassed but also attempted to kill a woman for wearing an Arabic print dress, accusing her of disrespecting religion. The police further stated that they timely intervened and rescued the woman.