A Pakistani anti-terrorism court on Wednesday sought a reply from the Islamabad police chief about alleged security threats to 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman lakhvi.
“The Anti-Terrorism Court, Islamabad judge who held the proceedings at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi directed the Inspector General Police, Islamabad to submit a reply in the court on the next hearing (May 13) about the security threat, if any, lakhvi is facing,” a court official said.
Advocate Raja Rizwan Abbasi, counsel for lakhvi, had filed the application in the trial court requesting it to exempt his client from appearing in the court in the Mumbai case as he is facing serious threats to his life, allegedly from a foreign intelligence agency and a Taliban wing.
“lakhvi may be assassinated while coming to or leaving the court. Since the trial in the Mumbai attack case began in February 2009, lakhvi and six other suspects had been attending the proceedings inside Adiala Jail.
“But after his release (on bail last month) lakhvi will now have to appear before the court on his own thus putting his life in serious danger,” Abbasi argued in the court and requested it to exempt his client from personal attendance in the case hearings till conclusion of the case.