Two days after the release of the alleged mastermind of the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, a Pakistani court has released three men accused of involvement in the same incident.
The anti-terrorism court in Lahore released Javaid Anwar, Abdul Rehman and Muhammad Abdullah on bail yesterday against a surety bond of Rs 1 lakh each.
Earlier, courts had granted bail to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi chief Malik Ishaq, the alleged mastermind of the attack, and Hijratullah, another key accused.
Ishaq was freed from Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore on Thursday. The three suspects freed yesterday had filed bail applications in which they claimed they were linked to the case two years after the attack on the Sri Lankan team.
They claimed they had no criminal record. The three men also said that since the Supreme Court had granted bail to Ishaq, the alleged mastermind of the incident, the statutory right of bail of suspects in the case had been established.
The anti-terrorism court, after hearing arguments by the lawyers of the three men, granted them bail and directed them to submit bail bonds of Rs 1 lakh each.
According to the prosecution, the three men, along with Qari Wahab, alias Umer Daraz, Zubair, Naik Muhammad, Malik Ishaq, Mohsin and Ashfaq had on March 3, 2009 attacked a bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team near the Liberty Chowk in Lahore.
Several cricketers were injured in the attack.