ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday acquitted Sibtain Kazmi, who was a suspect in the assassination of MNA Maulana Azam Tariq in 2003.
The suspect, Sabtain Kazmi, was detained in 2017 at the Islamabad airport while he was attempting to board a UK-bound flight. Kazmi was wanted for the murder of Azam Tariq; however, his name was not included on the Exit Control List.
The government had announced Rs 1 million on Kazmi’s arrest.
It is pertinent to mention here that Azam Tariq was killed at the outskirts of Islamabad in October 2003 on his return from Jhang. He was then a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan.
Following the assassination of the former SSP leader, his supporters went on a rampage in the city and burned down a cinema hall in Melody Market, killing two people inside.
SSP was banned for being a terrorist outfit in 2002. The organisation, which has a sectarian, anti-Shia ideology, is also believed to be linked with the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.
According to the late Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, SSP was behind the Gojra riots, while Wikileaks cables identified a number of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan members as having their origins in the SSP.
