LAHORE - Taking a U-turn Thursday, the Lahore police excluded Hussain Mohyuddin Qadri, son of Dr Tahirul Qadri, from the Model Town tragedy case.
Police sources said the names of nine other persons nominated as accomplices in the FIR were also dropped as the police failed get any solid clue against them.
Lahore police had booked more than 3,000 Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) workers including Hussain Mohyuddin on the charges of murder, attempted murder, and terrorism. Hussain was nominated as the main accused in the three-page FIR registered with the Faisal Town police station.
Sources also revealed that the police investigations commission probing into the incident collected the record of wireless messages aired during the operation as part of circumstantial evidences. A source in the telecommunication police wing said that the entire record of the wireless messages including the log books were handed over to the investigation team.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Tuesday’s clashes climbed to nine on Thursday as another victim of brutal police torture expired at a hospital. The 20-year-old youth was identified as Muhammad Hafiz, a resident of Sargodha district.
Earlier, eight people were shot dead including two women and 80 were hospitalised many with bullet wounds as police went on the rampage and fired shots and tear gas to disperse the protesters outside the PAT Secretariat in Model Town.