Islamabad: Pakistani police reported that a day after letters containing a powdery substance and threatening messages were delivered to all judges of Islamabad high court, similar letters were received by four judges of Lahore high court and five of Supreme Court, including Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa.
According to the FIR, the letters included a particular photo and the English word “Bacillus Anthracis”, apparently intended to threaten the judges. The letters accused the judges of being responsible for problems faced by the people of Pakistan. Bacillus anthracis is the bacterium that causes anthrax. The letters in white envelopes were delivered with incomplete addresses of the senders, stated the FIR. Upon opening the envelopes, the staff of two Islamabad HC judges found suspicious powder. Some media reports suggest that the officials later experienced extreme irritation in their eyes and burns around their lips.
Lahore deputy police chief Ali Nasir Rizvi said the letters were handed over to the counter-terrorism department for investigation and other courts were also being checked. These letters surfaced after SC took suo motu cognizance of six Islamabad HC judges’ accusation that Pakistani spy agency ISI was interfering in judicial affairs and using intimidating tactics such as secret surveillance, abduction, and torture of their family members to influence the outcome of cases of interest to the organisation.
