Rawalpindi - A local anti-terrorism court (ATC) yesterday acquitted 12 men who were facing charges of attacking an Imambargah with weapons and sticks three years ago after a seminary was torched during riots in Rawalpindi on the Day of Ashura in 2013.

The special judge in his verdict remarked that the police failed to prove involvement of 12 accused in the attack on Col (Retd) Maqbool Hussain Imambargah in Banni area of city on November 15, 2013.

The court acquitted Usman Sarfaraz, Muhammad Attique, Imran Shamraiz, Kamran Khan, Mubashir Azhar, Noman Khan, Jahangir Khan, Muhammad Saeed Butt, Muhammad Ismail, Mohsin Khan, Arsalan Ejaz, and Shahrukh for want of evidence against them.

According to available details, 12 men were arrested a day after a mob attacked the Imambargah and roughed up police officials and private guards on duty. The mob allegedly took away two walkthrough gates installed outside the Imambargah. The religious place was saved after involvement of area people and by heavy contingent of police.

The attack took place at about 9:00pm when a mourning gathering was under way inside the Imambargah. Apparently the attack was a reaction of another attack allegedly carried out by Shiite mourners on a seminary in Raja Bazaar who had put the seminary and an adjacent market on fire.

Advocate Naseer Ahmed Tanoli, representing two of the accused, told The Nation that the prosecution could not satisfy the court about the evidence against the accused who had earlier been granted post-arrest bail in the case.

He said that there are shortcomings in the way identification parade of the accused was carried out. He noted that the investigation officer did not prepare inquest report of the crime scene on the day of occurrence and could recover no weapons from the accused.

The faulty investigation also created doubts in the mind of the judge, he said.