ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa and four judges of the Supreme Court also received what the sources called ‘anthrax-laced’ letters.
The letters were sent to senior puisne judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel, Justice Aminud Din and Justice Shahid Waheed, said the sources. They also said that the letter contained threatening images and anthrax powder. The letters were allegedly signed by a woman named Resham, wife of Waqar Hussain.
A day ago (Tuesday), eight judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) including Chief Justice Aamer Farooq received suspected anthrax-laced letters raising security alarms within the judicial community. This development occurred in the wake of a letter written by six judges of the IHC to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), alleging interference in judiciary matters, sparking controversy.
SC takes suo motu notice of IHC judges’ letter
Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz had signed the letter, which was dated March 25.
Meanwhile, the IHC chief justice, on Wednesday, censured the Islamabad police for not tracing any accused involved in sending letters to the IHC judges.
During the hearing of appeals against the cipher case verdict against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi, IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq said that he would first talk about the incident when eight judges of the high court received suspicious letters.
The IHC CJ then asked the advocate general to summon the capital police chief and SSP (operations).
Later, DIG (Operations) Shahzad Bukhari and Counter-Terrorism Department Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Humayun Hamza appeared before the court. The DIG informed the IHC that four Supreme Court judges had also received similar letters. He added that after IHC judges, letters containing suspicious substance and threatening messages have been posted to the Supreme Court (SC) judges including CJP Qazi Faez Isa.
The DIG also informed the court that so far no one held the acting charge of the inspector general of police, and he was looking after all the operations of Islamabad Police. Bukhari said that the recovered chemical has been sent for inspection and a chemical report will be received in three to four days.
The court asked from where these letters had been posted. The DIG said that the seal on the envelope was illegible. He also informed the court that today four judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) also received letters with the same name. Imran Khan’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar said that this Resham woman, under whose name the letters were signed, should be found.
The IHC CJ asked if all the letters had been received from the same post office. The DIG replied that the stamp on the letters is faded, but Rawalpindi could be read.
The court asked the officers if they had seen the envelopes. At this, the SSP said that the letters apparently bore the stamp of the Rawalpindi post office but the letters had not been posted through the GPO but were dropped in a letterbox.
He further said that they were collecting the CCTV footage from the near area of the letterbox. He added that an investigation is underway and a committee has also been formed.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024