In a tragic incident, unidentified gunmen shot dead an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Aftab Afridi, his wife, Bibi Zainab, grandson and daughter-in-law at the Ambar Interchange in Swabi district on the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway on Sunday evening.
Judge Aftab Khan Afridi along with others was on his way back to Islamabad from Swat where he was serving for the last two months when the incident happened.
When his vehicle reached the Ambar Interchange on the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway, some unknown armed culprits riding a car opened indiscriminate fire on the judge and his family in the jurisdiction of the Chota Lahor City Police Station; as a result, they suffered severe bullet injuries and died on the spot.
According to police, during the attack, two others in the judge’s convoy, including Jehangir Khan, driver of the judge also sustained bullet injuries.
Judge Aftab Afridi
Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Aftab Afridi hailed from Barqambar Khel in the Khyber tribal region, which merged with the KPK, and was appointed as a judge for anti-terrorism court Swat in February 2021. Judges working in the ATC remain at risk as they hear and decide cases of terrorism suspects.
According to Peshawar lawyer Alam Advocate, there were about eight terrorist attacks on the judge in past. Sources said Aftab Afridi also had animosities in the area.
FIR registered
The First Information Report (FIR), registered on the complaint of the judge’s son, stated that the judge was returning to Islamabad after attending a wedding in Peshawar. According to the FIR, the judge’s daughter-in-law was also six months pregnant.
“The suspects opened fire on the vehicle near the Swabi interchange,” it said. The FIR also named six suspects including Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Abdul Latif Afridi.
The case was registered under sections 302 (murder or Qatl-i-AMD), 324 (attempted murder), 148 (armed with a deadly weapon), 149, 109 (abetment), 427 (damage to property), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging their duty) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.
PM, others condemn the murder
Prime Minister Imran Khan has strongly condemned the murder of Anti-Terrorism Court judge Aftab Afridi and his family. In a statement on Twitter, PM Imran said the perpetrators of this gruesome act will be apprehended and dealt with the full severity of the law.
Chief Minister KP Mahmood Khan also denounced the attack and expressed his grief over the loss of human lives in the incident. “Targeting women and children is a coward attempt,” he said, adding that those behind the attack would not be spared. The chief minister instructed the police to immediately arrest the culprits behind the attack and also sought a detailed inquiry report in this regard.
Five suspects arrested
The district police today (Monday) arrested five suspects in connection with the killing of an anti-terrorism court judge and his family members.
According to a statement, a joint operation team carried out an operation in Peshawar and Khyber and apprehended five suspects. The statement added that the deceased judge’s son, Majid Afridi, will identify the suspects. The police officials further informed that two vehicles mentioned in the First Information Report (FIR) have also been taken into police custody.
Other attacks on judges, lawyers
Judges and lawyers have become regular targets as part of a coordinated campaign by insurgents to punish those who would challenge them while reducing the state’s own capacity to govern.
In February 2019, the Peshawar High Court judge, Justice Ayub Khan, was injured in an attack on his car when he was on the way to the court in Peshawar.
Most notably, a Taliban splinter group orchestrated a suicide attack inside a courtroom of Islamabad in March 2014, killing 11 people including a judge who had dismissed a lawsuit against former President Pervez Musharraf that alleged that the military dictator killed religious students in a 2007 counterterrorism operation.
According to the South Asia Terrorism Panel, more than 157 lawyers and 13 judges or other officers of the court have been killed in targeted attacks since 2004 in Pakistan. Pakistan’s lawyers, like those in Afghanistan, have been drafted to the frontlines of the fight against terrorism in that country, both by the civilians, they try to defend and the extremists who attempt to kill them in return.
Strict step need to control the incidents
There has been a sudden resurgence in terror activities for the past three months in the country. Pakistan had made considerable improvement in the law and order situation, the resurgence in such terror activities is a cause for concern.
It is essential that law enforcement and security agencies remain vigilant to prevent any untoward incident. Such incidents should not take easy just giving a condemnation statement it needs a strict step to evade in future.
The murder of Aftab Afridi and his family could be a result of a property dispute or personal enmity, but whatever the reasons for the murder, it cannot be justified. It is a fact that the system of government and the judiciary itself is strong and stable, then no one dares to commit such crimes.
In Pakistan, if policemen and judges are not safe from criminals in their own homes, how will they protect the people? This is a huge problem for which we need to address the shortcomings in the system of government.
