PTI arrested MNAs to be produced before court today

ISLAMABAD: All PTI MNAs, whom the law-enforcement agencies (LEAs) had taken into custody, even from the Parliament House, late Monday night for violating the rules during the party’s rally at Sangjani, Islamabad on Sunday, would be produced in court today for remand.

These violations included attacking Islamabad Police personnel; failure to abide by timings and making anti-state speeches.

Besides PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar, Sher Afzal Marwat and Shoaib Shaheen, others who were arrested in late-night raids were Amir Dogar, Yousaf Ali Khan, Naseem Ali Shah, Ahmad Chattha, Awais, Syed Ahad Shah, Naseemur Rehman, and Sunni Ittehad Council’s (SIC) Sahibzad Hamid Raza while Rawalpindi Police raided Shehryar Riaz’s home at Peshawar Road, but he evaded arrest since he was not present at home.

PTI MNAs who were arrested from inside the Parliament House were Zain Qureshi, Sheikh Waqas Akram and others.

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The FIR accuses PTI workers of attacking police teams with stones and batons when security forces attempted to prevent them from deviating from the approved rally route. In response, law enforcement used tear gas to disperse the crowd and arrested 17 PTI activists at the scene.

The arrests come under the newly-enacted Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill, 2024, which regulates public gatherings and demonstrations.

Sher Afzal Marwat was reportedly arrested under this law, and police have indicated that further arrests of Punjab-based PTI leaders are imminent.

On the other hand, large contingents of the police and FC have taken their positions outside Islamabad’s district and sessions court as arrested PTI MNAs would be produced for remand shortly.