ATC allows trial of 8 accused of May 9 vandalism by military courts.

RAWALPINDI -- The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Rawalpindi on Monday directed the Superintendent of Central Jail Adiala to hand over eight accused of vandalizing the main gate of General Headquarters (GHQ) and other sensitive installations on May 9 to the military authorities for their trial by the military courts.

The ATC issued the order on the application of the Commanding Officer for the custody of the accused detained at the Adiala Jail.

The accused including Ali Hassan, Lal Shah, Shehryar Zulfikar and Farhad Khan were booked by the Police Station Civil Lines, and Muhammad Idris, Umar Farooq, Raja Ehsan and Abdullah by the R A Bazaar Police Station, Rawalpindi for vandalism and rioting on May 9.

The court in its order observed that the accused's custody (by the military authorities) was sought on grounds that they were 'found guilty of offences under Sections 3, 7 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act, 1952 [sic] read...