Sialkot lynching case accused bailed

LAHORE – A division bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday granted bail to former SHO Sialkot Sadar Rana Ilyas who was one of the key accused in Sialkot lynching case.
The bench comprising of Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry and Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan ordered to submit a surety bond of Rs 200,000 and two personal sureties for the purpose.
The bench passed the order on a bail petition filed by Rana Ilyas through his counsel submitting that a case was registered against co-accused wherein petitioner was involved in case only through supplementary statement. The petitioner submitted that it had been alleged that he failed to discharge his legal obligations and helped commissioning of offence of brutal murder of Mughees Sajjad and Muneeb Sajjad. Rana submitted that it was further alleged that the murder was committed in his presence and the petitioner failed to perform his duties.
The petitioner submitted that he filed post arrest bail before Special Judge Anti-Terrorism Gujranwala which was dismissed subsequently. Rana submitted that he filed another plea before LHC which was disposed off with a direction to trial court to conclude the hearing as soon as possible.
The petitioner submitted that the trial was not likely to be concluded in near future as only 13 statements have been recorded out of 41 witnesses till now. He further contended that the trial court judge has been transferred, there were 28 accused in the case and cross examination of the counsel involved would further delay the matter.
The petitioner submitted that the co-accused former District Police Officer Waqar Chohan who was charged on similar grounds has been released on bail. The petitioner contended that he reached spot after occurrence of death and tried to control mob.