Lahore counter-terrorism unit investigates threatening letters to judges

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: The Lahore Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station registered a case against unidentified individuals for sending threatening letters to judges of the Lahore High Court.

The case includes charges of terrorism and other serious offenses. The case was initiated after a parcel containing threatening letters was received, according to a CTD spokesperson.

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The threatening letters were promptly sent to a forensic laboratory for analysis. The spokersperson stated that the authorities expect a “quick arrest” of the culprits based on intelligence and forensic evidence.

Earlier, a case related to receiving threatening letters addressed to judges of the Supreme Court (SC) was registered at a CTD Islamabad branch, on the complaint of the Supreme Court’s Research and Investigation (R&I) branch in-charge.

The case was filed under section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) and section 507 of the same act.

The ‘threatening’ letters were received via ordinary mail and were addressed to the secretaries of the SC Justices. The letters contained a powdery chemical substance.

Four envelopes were discovered, each addressed to the SC Chief Justice and three other judges of the SC. The presence of a white powdery chemical substance in the envelopes was confirmed by the administrative officer in charge.

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Three of the letters were attributed to Gulshad Khatoon, while one was sent by an person named Sajjad Hussain.

Authorities have described the incident as an attempt to spread fear through “threatening letters”.