Arbitrary arrests under MPO challenged

Karachi youth being bundled off to prisons in Sukkur and Jacobabad

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) heard a petition of students and citizens against detention under Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) in Sindh and issued notices to the Sindh Home Department and others.

Muhammad Haneef Advocate, the lawyer of petitioners - Naeemullah, Ashfaq Ahmed, Sher Nadir, Radiullah and others - stated that the police are raiding the houses of ordinary citizens after the incident of May 9.

The citizens arrested by the police are being detained and transferred to Sukkur and Jacobabad jails. It is not yet clear why the citizens are being detained.

The concerned police stations are also unable to provide details regarding the arrests. Arbitrary detention should be declared illegal and order should be issued to release the detained citizens.

The court issued notices to the Sindh home department and others and asked the parties to submit their responses by May 29.

Physical remand

The Anti-Terrorism Adminis-trative Court handed over the accused to the police on physical remand in the cases of rioting, arson and interference in the government affairs on May 9.

In the cases of arson, 11 accused were produced in the court by the Tipu Sultan police and four by Firozabad police.

On the request of the investigating officer, the court handed over the accused to the police on 4-day physical remand.

Earlier, more than 50 arrested accused have been sent to jail on judicial remand. A bail application has also been filed on behalf of PTI leader Firdous Shamim Naqvi and others.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2023.