There appears to be no remission for the incarcerated Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) who were taken into custody under various legal provisions in the wake of violent protests after the arrest of PTI Chairman Imran Khan on May 9.
On Tuesday, the police rearrested PTI leaders Ali Muhammad Khan and Shehryar Afridi immediately after their release from the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. They had been detained under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).
Earlier, the Rawalpindi deputy commissioner withdrew the detention order of Ali Muhammad Khan, former minister of state for parliamentary affairs in the previous PTI government, after his submission of surety bonds on court order.
On the withdrawal of the 3 MPO, Ali was released by the Adiala Jail authorities, only to be rearrested by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police from outside the gate of the jail. This was the former minister’s third consecutive arrest.
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Afridi, also a former minister of state for home affairs in the PTI government, was rearrested by the police under 3 MPO again after his 15-day detention ended.
He barely walked a few paces, when the Rawalpindi police took him into custody. Afridi has been arrested for the second time in a row. Jail officials said he had been detained for 15 days again.
More arrests expected
Several PTI leaders were arrested after the May 9 riots. Many of them were released who immediately afterwards announced their departure from the PTI in their separate news conferences or video messages.
Sources said that more PTI leaders would be arrested, including former PTI lawmakers and potential candidates. The sources added that since May 9, mostly the PTI office-holders were detained in the first phase. In the second phase, PTI’s ‘electables’ would be arrested.
In this regard, according to the sources, a list had been prepared by the authorities concerned for making the arrests. They added that the PTI leaders would be detained at different places after their arrests.
Those who could be arrested include Irfan Niazi, Sanaullah Mastikhel, Mohsin Leghari, Bilal VIrk, Mehboob Sultan, Nazir Sultan, Aon Abbas, Farrukh Habib, Ahmed Chatha, Zartaj Gul, Ibrahim Khan, Shabbir Gujjar, Ijazul Haq, Afzal Sahi, Umar Aslam, Asad Muazzam, Sabtain Khan, Yasir Humayun, Majid Niazi, Zubair Niazi, Waleed Iqbal, Hamid Khan, Ihsanullah Tiwana, Waqas Akram, Rafiq Laghari, Tahir Sadiq, Talib Nakai, Asif Nakai, Nisar Jat, Riaz Fatiana, Osama Ghiyas Mela, Aamir Sultan, Malik Ahmed Yar, Nauraiz Shakoor, Nasrullah Dareshak, Raees Mahboob, Mian Ghaus, Amjad Joya, Samsam Bukhari, Mian Akhtar Hayat, Akhtar Kanju, Tehmina Dasti, Muazzam Jatoi, Shabbir Qureshi, Mumtaz Manika, Zahoor Qureshi, Hamad Azhar, Zahar Abbas Khokhar, Ijaz Dayal, Bilal Ijaz, Mansha Sindhu, Chaudhry Nazir, Raza Hiraj and Ahmadyar Haraj. (WITH INPUT FROM OUT LAHORE CORRESPONDENT)
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