ISLAMABAD: Former Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz and four others have been booked under terrorism charges for allegedly opening fire at police.
A case was also registered against the cleric’s wife, Umme Hassan, for threatening to attack police officers. The cases were lodged at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and Kohsar police stations.
The FIR invokes six sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including 324 (attempt to commit murder), as sections 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) and 11E (measure to be taken against a proscribed organisation) of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).
It states that Maulana Aziz and his accomplices allegedly blocked Jinnah Avenue and Fazl-i-Haq Road for over six hours and forcefully shut down shops and markets.
The cleric’s wife, Umme Hassan of Jamia Hafsa, threatened the CTD staff and asked Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to kill them on sight whether they are in uniform or not.
A CTD team purportedly went to the Lal Masjid area on Wednesday to ask the cleric to explain his return as prayer leader and attempts to seize the area of the former children’s library.
According to the FIR, police intercepted a suspicious vehicle in Melody areas on June 21. However, three men – including two armed with sub-machine guns (SMG) – opened fire at the police from inside the vehicle.
The three men identified as Murad Khan, Abrar Ahmad and Sarfaraz Hussain were promptly arrested. However, Maulana Aziz and another man identified as driver Manzoor managed to escape.
Police said Maulana Aziz was also sitting in the vehicle and fired at police. It added that Maulana Aziz has several cases registered against him and was also included in the Fourth Schedule of the ATA. It added that Aziz and his accomplices fired at the police with the intent to kill.
Police managed to arrest three persons and recovered SMGs from them. It said the suspects failed to produce permit or licence of the weapons. They also recovered 11 shell casings from the scene.
