ISLAMABAD - Special Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Islamabad on Wednesday formally indicted the three accused of Jinnah Avenue firing incident case.
ATC judge Atiq-ur-Rehman conducted the in-camera trial of three accused at the Adiala Jail and charges were framed against the main accused of the incident Malik Sikandar, his wife Kanwal Sikandar and arm supplier Akhtar Gill.
However, all the three accused who were present in the courtroom refused to accept the charges leveled against them.
Later, the court deferred the hearing till January 18 and directed the prosecutor to present the witnesses against them on the next the hearing.
The sources said that the report of Investigation Commission constituted to probe the incident would also be present before the court during the trial of the case.
Akhatr is accused of providing weapons to Sikandar the main accused of Islamabad standoff.
During interrogation, Sikandar had disclosed to have bought weapons from Akhtar in Pasrur.
It is pertinent to mention here that Malik Sikandar along with his wife had held Federal Capital hostage for hours on August 15. The accused Sikandar armed with two assault rifles, an AK-47 and a latest sub machine gun (SMG), started firing at Jinnah Avenue.
The standoff finally came to an end after PPP leader Zamurd Khan tried to capture him. During this scuffle, forces opened fire and injured Skindar who is currently confined in Adiala jail.
Meanwhile, the same court also framed the charges against six accused including a girl arrested for their alleged role in a failed suicide attempt on a Masjid of Bahra Kahu in Islamabad on Eid day.
The court indicted the arrested culprits including Hadayt-ur-Rehman, Muhammad Wali, Muhammad Sadam, Yasin Farooq, Anwar Hameed - a student of 8th class and a girl Mehvish. However, they denied the charges level against them.
During the hearing, the counsel Farooq Awan advocate representing Anwar Hameed contended that he had challenged age and confessional statement of Anwar Hameed. Therefore, the court should decide this matter first.
He argued that the age verifying certificate of Anwar Hameed had obtained which confirmed the age of his client between 15 to 16 years.
Therefore, he requested the court to shift his case to the juvenile court.
Later, the court adjourned the hearing till January 22 for further proceedings.
It is pertinent to mention here that a major terrorism attempt was foiled on Eid day when a suicide bomber was gunned down at a Shia Masjid (Imam Bargah) in the federal capital.
The suspected bomber was trying to enter the Imam Bargah when he was timely intercepted by a private security guard who also shot him dead.
Later, police arrested many people for their alleged role in the foiled suicide attack after the identification of the bomber through his fingerprints from NADRA.