LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Saturday granted bail to several activists of the proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party in several criminal cases registered against them.
Those who secured relief include Farooq ul-Hassan, Zahir ul-Hassan, Sharif ud-Din, Hafeezullah Alvi, Ghulam Ghaus Baghdadi, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Badar Munir, Qari Ashraf, Mohammad Akbar, Muzaffar Hussain, Muhammad Umar and Muzammil Hussain.
The court directed them to submit bail bonds of Rs100,000 apiece.
Thousands of supporters of the radical party marched from Lahore on October 22 toward Islamabad. They demanded the expulsion of the French envoy over the publication of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.) in that country.
The protest march saw supporters clash with police at several points along the way. At least eight police officers and four demonstrators were killed.
Last Sunday, the government and the party reached an agreement to end the two-week-long — and at times deadly violent — protest calling for the release of the group’s leader Saad Hussain Rizvi.
Following the agreement, the Punjab government has so far released more than 1,000 workers of the group.
The proceedings on the bail applications — in more than 20 cases which were clubbed together — were conducted in courtrooms 1 and 3 of the anti-terror court by District and Sessions judges Ejaz Ahmad Buttar and Arshad Hussain Bhutta, respectively.
Special Prosecutor Abdul Rauf Watoo argued that bail should not be granted at this stage.
Cases were registered against the TLP leaders at different police stations in Lahore under sections related to terrorism.
Subsequently, the court granted them bail in all of those cases.
PROTEST CONTINUES
Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters remain encamped on the main highway on Sunday near the town of Muridke, about 20km (12 miles) north of Lahore, as negotiations between the party’s leadership and a government committee continue.
People, as well as businesses, are being affected by the suspension of internet services.
A girls college situated on the Wazirabad-GT Road has been closed once again.
Rangers forces are still deployed on the Wazirabad-Chenab bridge. The trenches which the city administration had dug up at the bridge to thwart the TLP march are yet to be refilled.
The security forces have allowed the pedestrians and motorbikes to use the bridge for their movement. But the Chenab bridge is closed for other traffic so far.
Due to the non-arrival of the raw material in the city, the factory owners are distressed as their businesses are being hurt.
