ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Chief Justice, Qazi Faez Isa, along with other Supreme Court judges, also received threat letters containing a suspicious powdery substance and menacing messages. Earlier today, the Lahore High Court Chief Justice Shahzad Malik Ahmed and other judges were targeted with a similar threatening letter earlier today.
Confirming the incident, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations informed the top judge of Islamabad High Court (IHC), Aamer Farooq, during a hearing on Wednesday. The five judges of the top court including CJP Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Amin-Ud-Din Khan received threatening letters carrying ‘suspicious powder’, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations confirmed before IHC’s top judge.
Further revelations during the hearing disclosed that even the senior-most Justice Mansoor Ali Shah received a letter posted by a woman named Gul Shad. The letters, suspected of containing anthrax powder, have been handed over to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) for investigation.
The police officer was summoned to the rostrum by the IHC’s Chief Justice Aamer Farooq during the hearing of the cipher case today and questioned about yesterday’s (Tuesday) event of letters to the judges which suspectedly contain anthrax powder.
During the hearing, the DIG Operations told the high court that all envelopes containing letters and powdery substance had been sent for analysis to the lab. Moreover, the police department also wrote to the postmaster general to question why they cannot read a stamp properly, he added.
The police officer also confirmed that the Lahore High Court (LHC) judges have also received such letters today.
The IHC chief justice questioned the officer regarding other steps the police department has taken alongside the analysis of the letters, did they get any CCTV footage and from which post office the letters were sent. The court was told that initial investigations indicated the letters were sent from the General Post Office (GPO) in Rawalpindi through a letterbox.
The sender’s identity varied, with some letters signed by a person named Resham and others by Reshma. However, the police officers faced criticism from the IHC Chief Justice for their inability to decipher the postal stamp accurately.
Yesterday, the IHC chief justice among eight judges received “suspected anthrax-laced letters”, just a day after the apex court took suo motu notice over the judges’ allegations against spy agencies.
A comprehensive investigation has been launched by a police team, including experts, to gather evidence and identify the source of the threatening letters.
A case was lodged at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Police Station in the federal capital over a complaint of a branch clerk Qadir Ahmed who received and dispatched the post.
