Court rules: QWP MPA released on bail a day after arrest

The MPA and his guards were taken into custody for allegedly trying to intimidate the police.

PESHAWAR/ CHARSADDA/ PABBI:

After being arrested on Sunday for allegedly beating up a police officer and interfering with the police in Charsadda, Qaumi Watan Party’s (QWP) MPA Sultan Muhmood Khan was released on bail on Monday by an anti-terrorism court. His three accomplices were also released.

The MPA and his three guards identified as Hamid Khan, Ameenullah and Shakirullah, were charged under sections 506, 353, 186 and 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code for assault and intimidation, 225-B of the Criminal Procedure Code, Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act for creating civil commotion and Section 13 of the Arms Ordinance. They were produced before Judge Asghar Ali Shah.

The court was informed by the public prosecutor that the accused had used force to enter the police station in order to release his men who had been arrested for aerial firing at a wedding. When the police refused to comply, they reportedly took their weapons out.

The judge asked the prosecutor that when he asked for all of the MPA’s documents to be brought to him, there was a report in it which showed the case was mala fide. The judge sought an explanation as to why the MPA was not allowed to enter the police station.



The documents show that at the time of the incident, there were 11 people present. Out of those 11, four were the accused and the rest were policemen, including the complainant.

Constable Bilal, Muhammad Ali, Zahid Khan, Qadar and Qasim are listed as eye witnesses, but their version of what happened contradicts the complainant’s version.

The judge’s order read that the court could not become a mere spectator to what the police was doing. It added since a police station is a public place, no one could be refused entry.

According to the order, the offense was termed bailable, and the MPA and three others were released after submitting sureties.

The court then ordered the investigation officer to proceed with the case in accordance with the law.

On the streets

In Charsadda and Pabbi, QWP activists showed their resentment over MPA Khan’s arrest by protesting at Farooq-e-Azam Chowk. They were led by the party’s district president, Khurshid Khan, who said the arrest was just a ploy to hide the failures of the provincial government.

Former provincial minister Bakht Baidar addressed the protesters and said this was a move to push their party against the wall. He said if the case was not withdrawn, the party would hold protests all over the province.He added the provincial government had failed to maintain law and order in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. MPA Arshad Khan Umarzai and Faqir Hussain were also present at the protest.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2013.