LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Friday disposed of pre-arrest bail petitions of PTI-Lahore President Imtiaz Mahmood Sheikh in two cases of May 9 riots after he was proven innocent by a Joint Investigation Team (JIT).

ATC-l Judge Manzer Ali Gill heard the bail petitions of the PTl leader in five cases with him appearing in the court.

During the hearing, the JIT submitted a report stating that Sheikh was found innocent in two separate cases of attack at the Shadman police station and the burning of police vehicles.

In light of the JIT report, a lawyer for Sheikh sought court`s permission to withdraw his bail pleas for these two cases.

However, the JIT declared the PTl leader guilty in a May 9 case related to the attack on the Askari Tower in Gulberg.

A prosecutor also told the court that Sheikh had not joined the investigation of two cases involving the burning of police vehicles near the Jinnah House, which also serves as residence of Lahore corps commander.

The judge granted Sheikh a final opportunity to join the investigation in the cases, observing that if he failed to cooperate, the court will decide his bail petitions based on the available police record.

The judge extended the interim pre-arrest bail of Sheikh in the three cases until Nov 29.

Separately, the judge dismissed the applications of eight suspects of the May 9 cases for the return of their seized mobile phones.

The suspects include Khaleel Ahmed, Muhammad Akash, Zohalb Iftikhar, Mujahid Hussain, Muhammad Azam, Shakirullah, Zulgarnain Ali and Qadir Khan.

The suspects requested that their mobile phones, which are currently in police custody, be returned to them, saying they had already been released on bail.

However, a prosecutor opposed the request, saying the mobile phones were a critical piece of evidence in the cases. He argued that releasing the phones to the suspects could risk tampering with the evidence and potentially lead to its loss.

After hearing both sides, the judge dismissed the applications of the suspects.

Staff Reporter