Protest over situation in AJ&K: ATC dismisses prosecution plea

ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Thursday dismissed a prosecution plea seeking to extend the physical remand of the accused in a case registered against them in connection with a protest held in Islamabad over the situation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K). Police produced 26 accused before duty ATC judge Rukhsanda Shaheen after the expiry of three days’ physical remand and requested an extension of the physical remand of the accused in a case registered against them at Shalimar police station. The court turned down the police’s request to extend the physical remand and to send the accused to judicial custody for 14 days. At the start of the hearing, the prosecutor requested the court to extend the physical remand of the accused. The remand is required to recover the weapon and vehicle as well as conduct further investigations into the case, he further said. According to the judgment, the investigation did not establish the necessity for the physical presence of all the accused. The prosecution had been seeking physical remand as a routine matter and in a “mechanical” manner, it says. The court also directed the investigation officer (IO) of the case to present a report under section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The court directed the police to produce the accused before it on September 10. On July 31, Shalimar police station registered a first information report (FIR) against the accused on the complaint of Sub-Inspector (SI) Ghulam Murtaza. The FIR says the former senator and dozens of others had led around 400-500 people and gathered in Sector F-10 Markaz. The former senator allegedly made a provocative speech on loudspeakers, forcing shops to shut down, and also chanted slogans against the present government. It says that later Mushtaq Ahmed led the protesters to Sambal Road with the intention of holding a protest march on Main Jinnah Avenue and blocking the road. An official of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration had told the accused to end the protest as it was organized without obtaining a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the administration. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

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