An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Bannu on Saturday granted bail to Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) lawmakers Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar in one case related to an IED attack on security forces in Kharqamar on May 26, but rejected their plea in another case pertaining to the alleged attack on Kharqamar checkpost.
The second first Information report (FIR) registered by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in Bannu against the two MNAs followed an attack which allegedly targeted an army convoy near a security checkpost in Kharqamar on June 7.
The incident claimed the lives of three officers and a soldier and left four security personnel injured.
Wazir and Dawar had been arrested after the Kharqamar checkpost attack of May 26, and had been in CTD custody at the time of the IED blast.
The incident claimed the lives of 13 PTM supporters and injured 25 others. Ali Wazir had been taken into custody on the day of the attack, while Mohsin Dawar surrendered himself a few days later.
The production orders for the two leaders, who are both sitting MNAs, were not issued despite the insistence of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and other legislators.
The hearing, which was conducted by ATC Judge Babar Ali Khan, granted the two leaders bail in the June 7 case but rejected it for the May 26 incident.
The prosecutors included Fazal Noorani, Arif Bilal and Sardar Abdul Rauf while the defendants were represented by a team led by Peshawar High Court Bar President Latif Afridi.
Tariq Afghan, a member of PTM legal team, said that videos of the Kharqamar incident were produced in the court which vindicated the two leaders.
Afghan further said that they will challenge the verdict in Peshawar High Court.