Hit-and-run case of Rangers: ATC to formally start trial of accused

ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Wednesday decided to formally start the trial of the accused in the hit-and-run case of Rangers personnel during the PTI’s November 26, 2024 protest after the suspect was declared mentally stable and fit by the medical board.

ATC judge Tahir Abbas Sipra, while hearing the case against the suspect Muhammad Hashim Abbasi, who had allegedly run over the Rangers personnel with his Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), summoned prosecution witnesses following the submission of a medical report by the medical board of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) before the court.

The medical report declared the accused mentally fit and stated that the accused does not suffer from mental illness and is suffering from mild anxiety.

The proceedings of the case have not progressed for the last eight months due to the delay in the submission of the medical report. The court had directed the medical board in December last year to submit the medical report.

The case against the suspect and other accused was registered at the Ramna police station under different sections. These sections include Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, Sections 302, 114, 324, 120B, as well as other sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act.

The police have also named the jail PTI founding chairman Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi, former chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, Omar Ayub Khan, Sheikh Waqas Akram, Salman Akram Raja, Murad Saeed, Zulfi Bukhari, Hammad Azhar, Raoof Hasan, as well as other leaders of PTI.

The FIR alleged that the PTI founding chairman continuously issued instructions to the party leadership, his wife Bushra Bibi, Gandapur, and his sister Aleema Khan to make all-out efforts to get him released from jail, and they could set anything on fire or kill anyone for this purpose.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026