[Dawn] The Beautiful Downtown Peshawar...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
High Court on Wednesday ruled that carrying a boom jacket was an act of terrorism and the anti-terrorism courts had the exclusive jurisdiction for its trial.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Dost Mohammad Khan and Justice Irshad Qaiser set aside an order passed by a judge of an anti-terrorism court in Peshawar through which the case of an alleged bad turban carrying boom jacket was sent to a routine court.
The anti-terrorism court had ruled that carrying boom jacket didn't come under the Anti-Terrorism Act and it was plain case of recovery of explosives coming under the Explosive Substance Act and therefore, it should be tried by a routine court dealing with criminal cases.
The bench was hearing a plea of the provincial government for setting aside the order of the ATC and refer the case back to ATC.
The suspect, Deen Mohammad, was jugged
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
near the General Bus Stand in the jurisdiction of Pahari Pura cop shoppe in Peshawar on May 22, 2011. Police claimed to have recovered a boom jacket filled with explosives from his possession.
On Nov 14, 2012, a judge of the anti-terrorism court referred the case to a routine court after recording statements of some of the witnesses.
The chief justice observed that the suspect was carrying the explosives filled vest for carrying out an act of terrorism and not protecting himself from harsh weather.
He added that for eight years, blasts through boom jackets had been carried out across the country, especially Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
. The court observed that security forces, police and civilian population had suffered fatal casualties in thousands due to suicide kaboom
s.It ruled that the phenomenon of suicide kaboom had become so consistent that even in mosques, the people felt scared and suspected the people standing by them in the row as terrorists. It added that once boom jacket was recovered containing high quality explosive, then undeniable inference would be that it was meant for act of terrorism and not for any other purpose.