After Islamabad High Court (IHC) jurists, letters containing suspicious powdery substance and threatening messages have been posted to the Supreme Court (SC) judges, including Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations confirmed before IHC’s top judge on Wednesday.
“Four Supreme Court judges have also received such letters,” DIG Operation apprised the IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq who was conducting the hearing of cipher case today. The police officer was summoned to the rostrum by the IHC’s top jurist during the hearing and questioned about the yesterday’s (Tuesday) event of letters to the judges which suspectedly contain anthrax powder.
It emerged that the judges who received such posts on April 1 include CJP Isa, Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Justice Aminuddin Khan, sources told the media. The letters have been handed over to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD).
Additionally, a letter was also received by the top court’s senior most Justice Mansoor Ali Shah which was posted by a woman namely Gul Shad, the sources added. During the hearing, the DIG Operations told the high court that all envelopes containing letters and powdery substance have been sent for analysis to the lab. Moreover, the police department also wrote to the post master 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 DIG Operations said that it seemed the stamp was from an area in Rawalpindi.
A CTD officer also apprised the court that the letter was sent from General Post Office (GPO) Rawalpindi as per initial investigation and the letters had reached GPO through a letter box.
Detailing the sender’s name, some of the letters were sent by a person namely Resham, while others were posted by using another name, Reshma.
The IHC CJ reprimanded the police officers for not being able to read the postal stamp so far.
On Tuesday, 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, sources had said. A police team comprising experts launched a thorough probe to collect facts and ascertain powdery substance after the eight IHC judges received “suspicious letters containing suspected anthrax powder along with a threatening message”.
The letter was sent by a woman namely Resham without mentioning her address, the sources said.
They added that a staffer of a judge accidentally dropped the envelope containing the suspicious powdery substance and later he felt extreme irritation in eyes and burns on skin around his lips. All suspicious letters have been handed over the police for further investigation.
A case was lodged at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Police Station in the federal capital over complaint of a branch clerk Qadir Ahmed who received and dispatched the post.
