Day after Islamabad High Court’s judges received ‘threatening letters,’ four judges of the Supreme Court (SC) and as many judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) also received “power-laced-threatening-letters”, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations of Capital Police Shahzad Bukhari has been reported on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, the Islamabad Police DIG appeared in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and informed the court that the letters were sent to the senior judges of the LHC. He disclosed saying a team of law enforcers, including a team from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) reached the LHC premises and beeped up the security on the court premises.
‘Rawalpindi GPO stamp on letters’
During the hearing of a plea concerning the cypher case, a senior police official informed the IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq that the letters received by the IHC judges had been submitted for forensic examination and a report was expected within three to four days. When the court inquired about origin of the letters, the police official said “the stamp is not discernible” and added judges of LHC and SC have also received the letters from the same sender today. The court then asked if all the letters were posted from the same postal office. The CTD SSP then informed that it “appears” the letters have the stamp of the Rawalpindi post office. He clarified that they were not posted from the GPO but rather deposited in the GPO letter box. A day earlier, on April 2, eight judges, including Chief Justice Aamer Farooq of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) received letters containing an unknown powder, suspected to be laced with anthrax.
An FIR pertaining to the apex court incident was registered at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) police station on the complaint of Mohammad Iqbal Khan, in-charge of the SC’s Receipt and Issue Department. The case was registered under PPC Section 507 and ATA Section 7.
In the FIR, the complainant said that the mail was received on March 29 or 30 through the post office and was subsequently dispatched and received by the personal secretaries of the SC judges after inspection. He said that today the administration in-charge called him and pointed out that in four letters, addressed to Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and three other judges, “a white powder-like chemical” was present. He said three of the letters were sent by Gulshad Khatun, from an “unknown address”, and the fourth was sent by Sajjad Hussain, who also had an “unknown address”.
Khan said the police were immediately alerted about the matter to take action against the two individuals, saying they had attempted to spread “fear and harassment”. The FIR went on to say that the police reached the apex court around 12:30pm and seized the four opened letters from Khan. It added that a mixture of white powder was found on the letters, further saying that a police team arrived to conduct an initial analysis of the substance. The FIR said the content of the letters referred to Tehreek Namoos-i-Pakistan, criticised the judicial system and used the word “Bacilus Anthracis” to issue a threat.
Four LHC judges also receive ‘suspicious letters’
Four judges of the Lahore High Court (LHC) received suspicious letters and two of them informed the Chief Justice of LHC. Court sources claimed to have received suspicious letters from two judges of the LHC including Justice Miss Alia Neelam and Justice Shahid Bilal Hassan.
All judges informed the LHC CJ.
Lahore DIG Ali Nasir Rizvi also confirmed that the four LHC judges have also received suspicious letters. “Now the investigation is going on and it is being checked from other courts as well,” he said.
Courier company employee detained
The DIG said an employee of a private courier company has been detained in connection with suspicious letters to the LHC judges. He said that he and Lahore Capital City Police Officer Bilal Siddique Kamyana also met LHC Senior Puisne Judge Justice Shujaat Ali Khan regarding the matter and fully briefed him on it. Rizvi said the letters were handed over to the Counter-Terrorism Department for investigation.
The DIG refused to elaborate on the nature of the letters or to which judges they were sent, saying that it was “too early” to share anything since the matter was under investigation. He said a meeting with specialists and experts was scheduled for today which would discuss all aspects of the incident, after which information would be released to the media.
Earlier, eight judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) reportedly received suspicious letters, raising security alarms within the judicial community. According to judicial sources, when the staff of two judges opened the letters, they discovered a mysterious powder inside. The nature of the powder remains unknown, prompting immediate intervention from law enforcement authorities. A team of experts from the Islamabad Police swiftly arrived at the Islamabad High Court to investigate the matter further. They are currently engaged in examining the contents of the letters and determining the nature of the powder.
