QUETTA: An Antiterrorist Court (ATC) here on Monday acquitted 15 defendants in the case of a terrorist attack by the Ziarat Residence.
ATC judge Rahim Daad Khilji delivered the verdict by acquitting 15 of the 33 people nominated in the first information report (FIR) for lack of evidence against him.
Lawyers Mumtaz, Shoukat Rakhshani and Jaffar Awan represented the defendant.
Thirteen of the 15 people acquitted were already released on bail, while two were in prison.
Nawabzada Hairbyair Marri and 14 others remain free
Nawabzada Hairbyair Marri and 14 other defendants nominated in the FIR have not been arrested so far. They still have to face a trial.
On June 15, 2013, the historic Quaid-i-Azam Ziarat residence caught fire in a fire caused by militants.
The illegal Balochistan Liberation Army had claimed responsibility for the attack.
The then provincial government, headed by Prime Minister Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch, rebuilt and restored Ziarat's residence to its original form. The reconstructed residence was inaugurated on August 14, 2014.
Posted on Dawn, October 15, 2019
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1510882/15-of-33-accused-in-ziarat-residency-attack-case-acquitted