LAHORE – A Lahore court has declared four absconding accused, including Khadija Shah, daughter of former finance minister Salman Shah, as proclaimed offenders in the May 9 Askari Tower attack case.
According to reports, the proceedings were conducted by Administrative Judge of the Anti-Terrorism Court, Manzar Ali Gul. The court issued permanent arrest warrants for Khadija Shah, Hamza Sohail, Usman Aslam, and Ahmad Marsaleen.
The court also issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the accused Zain-ul-Hassan and initiated proceedings to declare him a proclaimed offender. The accused were not appearing before the court for the main trial in the Askari Tower attack case.
The state prosecutor told the court that Khadija Shah had gone into hiding after being convicted in another May 9 case. He added that Khadija Shah and the other accused were avoiding court appearances out of fear of arrest.
Despite being granted time to appear, they failed to do so, and did not appear even after the issuance of arrest warrants.
