LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court on Monday extended the judicial remand of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Khadim Rizvi and five others till February 8.
The party leaders who are facing charges of fueling the protests, inciting followers to damage property and making hate speeches targeting state institutions were presented before the court after their 14-day judicial remand ended.
On January 2, the court had awarded 20-day physical remand to top TLP leadership to enable further probe on the matter.
Protests had erupted in several cities after the Supreme Court acquitted Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman who had been sentenced to death on blasphemy charges, on October 31.
Enraged masses had blocked several routes across the country for two days, while at some places they had also set fire to vehicles. The demonstrations saw the closure of schools, colleges and universities, as well as cancellation of examinations.
The government and the protesters from different religious groups, led by Rizvi, reached an agreement two days later on November 2.
In November last year, Rizvi was taken into ‘protective custody’ after the government ordered law enforcement agencies to begin a countrywide crackdown on the far-right religious outfit.
The law enforcement agencies had rounded up around 1,800 individuals after the agreement. The Ministry of Interior had said that the arrested people had been booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).
According to the figures issued by the government, a total of 2,899 people were taken into protective custody from across Punjab while 139 persons from Sindh and 126 from Islamabad were also taken into custody during the crackdown.
Although the government decided to take action against miscreants involved in vandalism, torture and arson during the demonstrations across the country, it later showed leniency by dropping the cases against the TLP workers.
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