The Anti-terrorism court in Gujranwala on Monday has released orders to the authorities for attaching the properties of 51 absconding suspects, which includes several PTI leaders, who did not appear before the court.
It is to be noted that, the suspects are those with the connections related to the attack on the Gujranwala Cantt after the arrest of the former Prime Minister Imran Khan on May 9.
The Anti-terrorism court has issued this order under Section 88 of the Pakistan Penal Code. In the month of May 2023, the Rahwali Cantt police had lodged a case against the suspects that were part of the attack on the cantonment in which over dozens of people were injured and one person was killed.
During that attack, the then SSP Investigation, Usman Tariq Butt also received injuries. The First Information Report (FIR) was also lodged under the anti-terrorism law along with the charges of attempted murder.
Meanwhile, the anti-terrorism court has also begin the process of declaring the suspects as fugitives. According to the orders of the court, written announcements had been shown outside the houses of these suspects as well as in the different public areas across the district. After their repeated absences, the court also issued non-bailable warrants for the detention of the suspects.
The absconding suspects whose assets would be seized included the senior PTI leaders Hammad Azhar, Murad Saeed, PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub, Farrukh Habib, Ali Amin Gandapur, Zartaj Gul, Shaukat Bhatti (Hafizabad), Ahmed Chatha (Wazirabad), Bilal Ijaz, Mian Tariq, Zafarullah Cheema (Gujranwala) among others.
The orders mentioning the names of the absconders are mainly the members of the PTI among the names of the leaders. Along with this, other suspects in the case are former prime minister Imran Khan, former Punjab chief minister Chaudhary Parvez Elahi, Senior Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Yasmin Rashid and Ijaz Ch.
