An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has indicted two accused, said to be associated with the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), for their alleged involvement in a case pertaining to the 2024 suicide attack near the Karachi airport that killed two Chinese nationals and a Pakistani citizen.
Muhammad Javed alias Sameer, alleged mastermind of the suicide bombing, and his female accomplice Gul Nisa were arrested after a suicide attack on a Chinese convoy near Karachi airport in October 2024 killed two foreigners and one Pakistani national while injured 11 others.
The ATC-VI judge took up the case at the judicial complex inside the Central Prison as the accused were produced from the jail. He read out charges to the accused, who then pleaded not guilty, according to defence lawyer Shaukat Hayat.
Talking to The News, the lawyer, who is representing accused Gul Nisa, said that both the accused were indicted on charges of “connivance and collaboration” in carrying out the attack. He said that the charges had been framed around 16 months after the arrest of the accused in November, 2024.
He said that the prosecution deliberately delayed the filing of the final charge-sheet, requesting the judge to ensure that no further delay is caused in the recording of statements of prosecution witnesses. Adjourning the hearing until March 17, the court summoned prosecution witnesses to record their testimonies in the case.
An FIR was lodged under the Pakistan Penal Code’s sections 302 (murder), 353 (assault to deter public servant from discharging duty), 324 (attempted murder), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharging public functions) and 427 (mischief causing damage) read with the Section 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the Anti-Terrorism Act after a massive explosion targeted a convoy of Chinese engineers on a road near the Jinnah International Airport on October 6, killing a total of three people, including two Chinese nationals, and injuring at least 11 others.
The case, which was registered at the CTD police station on the complaint of Airport Police Station SHO Kaleem Khan Moosa, also included the sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substances Act.
