ABBOTTABAD The anti-terrorism court gave nine accused of the Makol Payeen girl burning case in remand to the joint investigation team for another seven days for further interrogation. The remaining five were sent on a judicial remand to Mansehra district jail. The detained person’s family members protested outside the court, accusing the police of protecting the real culprits.
The accused were brought before judge Raja Masood, of the anti-terrorism court on Friday under tight security. However, when the accused were produced before the court, their family members, most of them women and children, protested outside the court.The protesting family members accused the police of implicating their relatives in a fake case in order to “save the skin of the actual culprits”. The protesters also accused the police of subjecting their relatives to third degree torture so that the latter confess to a crime they believed they did not commit.
The agitated family members demanded the court set the detained persons free and start a judicial enquiry into the case so that the real culprits could be nabbed. The protesters also blocked Karakoram Highway for a few minutes, suspending traffic on the busy thoroughfare. However, the police managed to disperse them. Four women and the same number of men were also arrested, but the women were later set free while the men remained detained and a criminal case was registered against them. When approached, the Cantonment police did not share the names of the arrested protesters.
