LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Tuesday accepted for hearing a petition seeking the simultaneous hearing and verdict of six cases against Jamaatud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed and his associates.
According to Deputy Prosecutor General Abdul Rauf Wattoo, in total six cases against the said individuals were pending before the same court, adding that in four of these cases presentation of evidence was in progress.
Wattoo said hearing of all four remaining cases will be concluded simultaneously at the end of the week, which is when the court will issue its verdicts. The court has already reserved its verdicts in two of the cases. The reserved verdicts, which relate to terror financing cases, will also be announced with those on other cases at the end of the week, he added.
During the trial of both cases, the court recorded the statements of 23 witnesses.
The JuD chief was arrested by CTD in July last year, while he was travelling from Lahore to Gujranwala, said Dawn news.
Prior to his arrest, 23 first information reports had been registered against JuD leaders at CTD police stations of Lahore, Gujranwala, Multan, Faisalabad and Sargodha in July 2019.
According to the CTD, JuD was financing terrorism from the massive funds collected through non-profit organisations and trusts including. These non-profit organisations were banned in April last year as the CTD, during detailed investigations, found that they had links with the JuD and its top leadership.
