Threat Letters Sent To Pakistan Chief Justice, Supreme Court, High Court Judges Contained 10% Arsenic

The Pakistani counter terrorism department said it received the forensic report of the powder found in mysterious letters sent to the judges of the high courts in Pakistan and the Pakistan Supreme Court. They said that the powder contained 10% arsenic, according to a report by Geo News.

Four Pakistan Supreme Court judges, eight Islamabad High Court judges and six Lahore High Court judges received threat letters which led to fear and concerns among the members of the Pakistani judiciary.

Lahore high court judge Ali Baqar Najafi was the latest to receive threatening letters. After the letters were received, the Pakistani counter terrorism agency lodged two FIRs against unknown people and launched a probe into the matter.

They found that arsenic mixed in white powder was in the letters. They also said that the powder contained 10% arsenic and said that if the substance would have been sent at a higher ratio it could have been dangerous as it is poisonous and poses threat to the human body as it affects the nervous system if mistakenly inhaled.

The investigators obtained the CCTV footage from the cameras installed near the letterboxes in the sub-divisional post office Satellite Town, Rawalpindi.

Pakistani agencies have roped in the National Database and Registration Authority (NDRA) to identify the suspects with the help of Nadra.

Several judges, including the Pakistani chief justice Qazi Faez Isa received the letters containing the white powder which was believed to be anthrax. Justice Athar Minallah, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, and Justice Aminuddin, also apex court judges, received similar letters.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has promised the government would probe the matter and has said it will find the people responsible for sending the letters. He urged rivals to not politicise the issue while addressing the federal cabinet.

“The letters that were sent to various judges yesterday, and the reports that have emerged about a suspicious powder in them […] So I think that we should show full responsibility on this and not let any kind of politics near this [matter],” Sharif said.