A special anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday granted a one-day transit bail to land grabbing suspect Mansha Bomb.
Mansha was shifted amid tight security from the Secretariat Police to the court’s premises by a contingent of the Islamabad police. As the hearing went underway, the suspect requested ATC Judge Syed Kausar Abbas Zaidi to wait for his legal counsel. The judge accepted the request and took a recess. Personnel of the Islamabad police remained in the courtroom.
Later, the suspect told the judge that he feared that the police would kill him in a staged encounter.
He asked the court for a one-day transit bail which was granted so that he could be presented before a court in Lahore on October 17 (today). Mansha and his sons are accused of illegally grabbing land in Lahore’s Johar Town vicinity. He was arrested on October 15 from the Supreme Court premises where he came to surrendered himself.
Last month, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Saqib Nisar had ordered the immediate arrest of Mansha, however, the authorities had failed to fulfil the court’s orders. At least 70 cases are registered against the alleged land grabber, according to the Punjab police.
Published in Daily Times, October 17th 2018.
