PESH AWAR: An anti-terrorism court on Friday acquitted three people alleged militants arrested on the charge of facilitating a suicide bombing in the Madressah Arif Hussain Al-Hussaini, Peshawar, which had left 14 people dead and 31 injured more than four years ago.

The court pronounced that the prosecution didn`t prove its case against Abdul Ghafoor, Jan Mohammad and Fazal Mohammad, all residents of Bara area of Khyber Agency.

The bombing had taken place just ahead of Friday prayers in the madressah of Chamkani area on June 21, 2013.

Its FIR was registered at the Chamkani police station under sections 302, 324, 427 of the Pakistan Penal Code, Section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act and sections 3 and 4 of the Explosive Substance Act.

The accused were arrested by the law-enforcement agencies few days after the terrorist incident. The prosecution claimed that the three belonged to a Bara-based proscribed militant organisation, Lashkar-i-Islam, and that they had played a vital role in the bombing.

It added that two of the accused had recorded their statements with the relevant magistrate admitting their role in the terrorist attack.

The prosecution said the accused had brought two suicide bombers to the madressah for carrying out the blast and that they had kept an eye on the madressah and gathered the necessary information.

The prosecution insisted that one of the suicide bombers had stayed at the residence of one of the accused in Chamkani area.

Tafseel Khan Afridi, lawyer for the accused, said his clients were falsely implicated in the case and that there was no evidence against them. He said the confessional statements of the two accused were not admissible as the magistrate didn`t fulfil the relevant legal requirement.

The lawyer said the confessional statements of the accused were under duress and coercion as they had remained in custody of the lawenforcement agencies for many days. He said the prosecution didn`t prove any link between the accused and suicide bombers and that the accused could not be convicted merely on the basis of hearsay.

The lawyer added that the prosecution witnesses had also recorded conflicting statements.-Bureau Report