Omer Sarfraz Cheema, Mian Mehmoodur Rashid and Ejaz Chaudhry got 10 years of imprisonment each

Bureau Report

LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday acquitted PTI leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi, while sentencing four other leaders, including Dr Yasmin Rashid, Omer Sarfraz Cheema, Mian Mehmoodur Rashid and Ejaz Chaudhry, to 10 years of imprisonment each in a case related to the May 9 riots.

These PTI leaders have already been jailed after being indicted by different courts in Punjab in cases pertaining to violence on May 9, 2023. On that day, supporters and workers of the party, reacting to founder Imran Khan’s arrest, vandalised and torched military installations and government properties.

Judge Manzer Ali Gill announced the verdict inside Kot Lakhpat Jail, concluding the trial in first information report number 852/2023, which pertains to an attack on the entrance gate of Government Officers’ Residence-I Club Chowk. The Racecourse police had registered the case and submitted a challan against 25 suspects, including PTI leaders and workers.

This marks the fifth case in which PTI leaders Dr Yasmin, Cheema, Mian Mehmoodur, and Chaudhry were convicted, while former foreign minister Qureshi was acquitted.

Earlier verdicts were delivered in cases related to an attack on the Shadman police station, violence at Sherpao Bridge, the burning of police vehicles near Rahat Bakery, and the torching of a Supreme Court judge’s squad vehicle near Jinnah House during the May 9 protests.