MNA Ali Wazir arrested from North Waziristan

Security forces on Monday arrested Pashtun Tahafuzz Movement (PTM) leader and MNA Ali Wazir at Dumdel check post in North Waziristan while he was travelling to Razmak from Miranshah.

Official sources maintained that Wazir was shifted to Miranshah headquarters after being taken into custody and was handed over to the police in the FIR registered against him.

It may be recalled that Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cybercrime Circle Peshawar had started an inquiry against Wazir and PTM chief Manzoor Pashteen for allegedly using defamatory language and spreading propaganda against the institutions.

The investigation agency had also ordered both the leaders to appear before it on June 23. The police and security personnel had been on alert for the last several days to arrest Wazir.

The PTM leader was released from Karachi jail in earlier in February after being imprisoned for more than two years. He was under arrest since December 2020 in several sedition cases.

Meanwhile, during the National Assembly session, MNA Mohsin Dawar claimed that Wazir had been abducted and shifted to an undisclosed location.

He sought a detailed inquiry into his arrest.

Also read: Ali Wazir released after 26 months

“Speaker sahib (Raja Pervaiz Ashraf), early morning today, we received information that our MNA Ali Wazir was arrested near a check post in North Waziristan,” he said, adding that “there is no clue regarding his whereabouts”.

Dawar said Wazir’s companions, who were with him at the time of arrest, also did not know about the latter’s location.

“Apparently, according to what is being run on social media, Wazir was arrested in North Waziristan but a case against him has been registered at the FIA’s Cybercrime Circle in Peshawar,” he maintained.

Dawar said the law and Constitution had “ceased” to exist in the country.

Recalling that the lower house recently passed a law that required the speaker’s approval before taking a legislator into custody, he requested Ashraf to carry out an investigation into Wazir’s arrest and determine his whereabouts.

“The session is underway but permission was not taken from the speaker… this then means that this is not an arrest, but abduction,” Dawar added.

Separately, in a tweet, Dawar said Wazir’s arrest proved that there was no rule of law in the country.

“He has been abducted. His whereabouts remain unknown. Speaker NA was not notified of his arrest,” the MNA added.