Minar-e-Pakistan harassment case: Court refuses to send accused into police custody

LAHORE: A local court Monday rejected the police’s request to extend the physical remand of six arrested accused in the Minar-e-Pakistan harassment case.

At the outset of the hearing, the police presented the accused, namely Shehryar, Mehran, Arsalan, Sajid, Abid, and Iftikhar, at the completion of their remand. The police pleaded before the court to send the accused into police custody for further interrogation.

Judicial Magistrate Hassan Sarfaraz Cheema rejected the police’s request and sent the accused into judicial custody. On September 3, the local had ordered the release of 98 suspects —taken into custody for manhandling TikToker Aisha Akram inside the Greater Iqbal Park (Minar-e-Pakistan) — after the victim could not identify them during an identity parade. According to the police, the victim identified only six suspects — who later were arrested — out of 104 suspects during the identification parade.