ISLAMABAD: Police arrested five suspects on Monday in connection with the murder of an anti-terrorism court (ATC) judge and his family a day earlier.
Judge Aftab Ahmed Afridi, his wife, daughter-in-law and a two-year-old child were killed on Sunday evening when his car came under fire while travelling from Swat Valley to Islamabad.
No one claimed responsibility for the shooting, which also seriously injured two of his bodyguards. Reports citing police sources called the attack a “targeted” one.
According to a police statement issued on Monday, a joint operation team carried out an operation in Peshawar and Khyber and arrested the suspects.
The statement added that Afridi’s son, Majid Afridi, will identify the suspects. Police added that two vehicles mentioned in the first information report (FIR) have also been taken into police custody.
The FIR, registered on the complaint of Majid, said his father was returning to Islamabad after attending a wedding in Peshawar. It further said the judge’s daughter-in-law was also six months pregnant. “The suspects opened fire on the vehicle near the Swabi interchange,” it said.
The case also named six suspects including Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Abdul Latif Afridi.
The case was registered under sections 302 (murder or Qatl-e-Amd), 324 (attempted murder), 148 (armed with a deadly weapon), 149, 109 (abetment), 427 (damage to property), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging their duty) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).
The ATCs were established to hear cases ranging from terrorist financing to the prosecution of perpetrators of insurgent attacks. Afridi had been assigned to these courts in Swat two months earlier.
