Lahore: A court on Wednesday ordered that two
Pakistan Army majors and a soldier accused of involvement in
the death by torture of a drug peddler should face court
martial in a military court.
District and Sessions Judge Muhammad Rasheed Qamar of
Gujranwala in Punjab province said he should be updated every
fortnight about progress in the court martial of Maj Syed
Kamran Hashmi, Maj Nazir Ahmad and the soldier, currently
serving with the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF).
The two army officers were earlier freed less than 48
hours after they were arrested on the orders of the judge
after the cancellation of their interim bail.
The hide and seek game by the army officers ended
yesterday, when the court sent them and four of their
subordinates to jail on remand.
The army had earlier sought custody of the two officers
so that they could face court martial.
The six ANF personnel, along with 19 others, were accused
of torturing an alleged drug peddler Zulfikar Ahmed to death.
A case was registered against them in June 2009 on the
orders of the Lahore High Court after Ahmed`s mother Sughran
Bibi filed a petition seeking justice.
The accused were granted interim bail but they did not
appear in court for two years.
When they appeared in the court of Judge Qamar for
confirmation of their bail on Saturday, he got them arrested
in the courtroom.
But police released the two army officers on the order of
some "influential quarters", reports said.
The matter was finally resolved yesterday when they were
arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
PTI
