ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former Punjab minister Raja Basharat surrendered before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad on Friday after arrest warrants were issued against him in two terrorism-related cases.
Basharat appeared before ATC Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra and submitted an application requesting the cancellation of his arrest warrants. The court accepted his plea and cancelled the warrants, offering him temporary relief.
He faces charges in two cases linked to an attack on the Judicial Complex. The next hearing in these cases is scheduled for April 7.
The court had earlier instructed the relevant authorities to hold Basharat’s trial inside jail premises. In Friday’s proceedings, the ATC also heard four additional cases against him, registered in connection with PTI’s protest on November 26.
The judge granted interim bail to Basharat in these cases until May 5, against surety bonds of Rs 5,000 each. The cases were registered at Aabpara, Kohsar, and Secretariat police stations in Islamabad.
Basharat appeared in court accompanied by his legal team. Judge Sipra directed him to cooperate with investigators and join the inquiry before the next date of hearing.
A day earlier, Basharat had filed separate bail petitions in terrorism cases related to protests in Taxila and Sadiqabad, seeking protective relief from arrest.
