LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday granted interim pre-arrest bail to the father of an underage driver who killed six of a family in a deadly car accident in DHA Phase VII.

Judge Abher Gul Khan allowed the bail to Shafqat Ali, the father of the suspect underage driver, subject to furnishing surety bonds of Rs100,000.

The suspect, a property dealer, appeared before the court along with his counsel. He pleaded that police had implicated him in the case only for being the owner of the car driven by his son.

The judge admitted the application, allowed bail to Ali till Nov 27 and sought a report from police.

Separately, Additional District and Sessions Judge Shahid Mehmood dismissed as withdrawn a post-arrest bail petition of the suspect, Afnan Shafgat, the underage driver, in the road accident case.

A counsel for the suspect told the court that the police added offences of murder and terrorism in the FIR and obtained fresh physical remand of his client.

Therefore, he said the suspect wanted to withdraw the bail petition. The judge dismissed the bail petition as withdrawn.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2023