An anti-terrorism court (ATC) has granted police a four-day extension in the physical remand of the underage driver responsible for the tragic incident in Lahore that claimed the lives of six family members in the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) area.
ATC rejected the police’s request to extend the physical remand by 14 days and ordered a four-day extension for further investigation into the case. The suspect was presented before ATC judge Abher Gul Khan in handcuffs, which the court ordered to be removed.
Explaining reasons behind seeking a 14-day remand extension, the Investigating Officer (IO) told the court that they are still awaiting the result of a bone ossification test to determine the age of the suspect.
Furthermore, the IO told the court that the suspect has been changing his statements which is why they want to conduct polygraph and photogrammetric tests. Additionally, they also want to question him regarding several other crucial aspects of the case.
The underage driver’s lawyer objected to the police’s request for a remand extension. He argued that the police couldn’t request further custody based solely on the anticipation of test reports.
Furthermore, he also termed the inclusion of section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 in the FIR and the remand under terrorism charges as unlawful. The suspect’s counsel was directed to approach Lahore High Court to challenge terrorism charges and the remand.
Later, the ATC extended the underage driver’s physical remand by four days. The hearing was also attended by Rafqat Ali, who lost his wife, son, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, four-month-old grandson, and granddaughter in the deadly road accident.
