Govt gets week to submit reply in Mumbai attacks case

ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday gave the Ministry of Interior more time to apprise it of whether or not Indian witnesses will come to Pakistan to testify in a case related to the Mumbai attacks.

The ATC judge adjourned the hearing until July 05 when a request was made on behalf of the ministry to allow more time to submit a reply with regard to Indian witnesses.

At a previous hearing, the judge had observed that the court has been awaiting Indian response over whether 27 witnesses from the country will testify in the case or not and directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Interior to inform him in this regard.

He said so far 85 witnesses presented by FIA have recorded their statements.

A list of 150 witnesses was provided to the court, out of which 63 were stricken off the list for being unnecessary, the judge said.

A total of eight suspects were nominated in the case, including alleged mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younus Anjum.

Lakhvi was granted bail by the Lahore High Court in December 2014, but he was detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO). The court also set aside his detention later, clearing the way for his release.

The ATC had earlier asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to approach India to allow the witnesses in the case to appear before it, but no progress so far has been made in this regard.

It is pertinent to mention here that the case related to the terrorist attacks in India’s financial capital,Mumbai, on November 26, 2008, in which at least 166 people were killed.