By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Authorities on Friday seized ten more suspicious letters, some containing a toxic powder, addressed to high-profile figures including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.
The Supreme Court received six of these letters, with recipients including Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa. Additionally, one letter was directed at Justice Ali Baqar Najafi of the Lahore High Court (LHC), two at Chief Minister Nawaz, and one at Prime Minister Sharif.
More than a dozen senior judges have received letters containing a suspicious white powder since Tuesday. All eight judges of the Islamabad High Court received similar mails, with a note in English criticising the “justice system of Pakistan” and even mentioning the term, bacillus anthracis.
Bacillus anthracis is a bacteria that can cause anthrax, a serious infection that can be fatal if immediate treatment is not given.
The letters to the Supreme Court justices arrived at the court’s Receipt and Issue (R&I) branch as part of the routine mail and were opened on Friday, revealing the menacing contents and a photo of a human skull with the inscription “Welcome to Bacillus anthracis!!!”, alluding to the bacterium responsible for anthrax.
Justice Najafi is now the sixth LHC judge to receive such a letter, which was found by his staff during the daily mail check. The envelope was not opened and was promptly turned over to the police for further action.
Earlier, five LHC judges had received similar letters with a suspicious powder. Forensic tests initially determined that the substance was not anthrax but “carbohydrates with arsenic traces”. The origin of these letters remains unknown.
Security officials are examining footage from the Punjab Safe City Authority’s surveillance cameras to identify the senders. The home department is also contemplating equipping judges’ staff with scanners to examine suspicious letters before opening.
The most recent set of letters was discovered in a post office letterbox in Rawalpindi’s Dhoke Gujran area. The anonymous envelopes were gathered by the post office staff as part of their regular duties.
Upon discovery, the postal department was notified, leading to an expert examination of the letters. The ongoing investigation has resulted in the letters being forwarded to the National Forensic Science Laboratory in Islamabad for detailed toxicological and chemical testing.
The incident targeted the country’s superior and higher judiciary coinciding with a move of the country’s top court to start looking into a case related to the alleged meddling of Pakistan’s spy agencies in judicial matters.
The case was initiated after six Islamabad High Court judges complained last week the country’s intelligence agencies had been using intimidation and coercive tactics to influence judicial verdicts.
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