Pakistan Court Issues Notice To CTD, Punjab Govt On Petition Of Woman Held Over Blast Outside Hafiz Saeed's Residence

Ayesha Bibi filed a petition in the Lahore High Court, saying she has been arrested by the CTD for being an "assistant" to alleged terrorists involved in the blast outside Saeed's residence. 

Pakistan Court Issues Notice To CTD, Punjab Govt On Petition Of Woman Held Over Blast Outside Hafiz Saeed's Residence: File Image

New Delhi: A woman arrested in connection with the blast outside the residence of Mumbai attack mastermind and Jama'at-ud-Da'wah chief Hafiz Saeed said in a local court in Pakistan that there was no solid basis for her detention and prompted the court to issue notices to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and the Punjab government seeking their response within two weeks.

On June 23, three people were killed and over 20 were injured in a blast outside Saeed's Johar town residence. Several houses, shops and vehicles in the area were damaged in the blast. The Punjab government had claimed to have traced the network of all '10 Pakistani suspects' involved in the blast.

An official source in Punjab police told PTI, "The law enforcement agencies had arrested four suspects- Peter Paul David, Eid Gul, Ayesha Bibi and one more person. The hearing in the case has not yet started.''

Ayesha Bibi filed a post-arrest petition in the Lahore High Court, saying she has been arrested by the CTD for being an "assistant" to alleged terrorists involved in the blast outside Saeed's residence. 

Ayesha claimed in her petition, "I have nothing to do with the arrested terrorists. The police have no plausible ground to arrest me.''

Ayesha's lawyer Fida Hussain told the court that she had nothing to do with the blast as she was not present in Johar city when the incident took place. After hearing the petition, the court issued notices to the CTD and the Punjab government to file their replies within two weeks.

Saeed is serving a jail term in Kot Lakhpat jail, Lahore, for his conviction in terror funding cases. Saeed (71) has been declared a terrorist by the United Nations and the United States has put a bounty of $10 million on him. He has been sentenced to 36 years in prison in five cases of terrorism financing. Sentences pronounced in all cases are running concurrently.