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The police on Monday lodged a case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Ali Haider Zaidi, Haleem Adil Sheikh and other party workers on charges of rioting and criminal intimidation for "hooliganism" at city courts in Karachi during Ramzan, Dawn reported.
The first information report (FIR) was registered on the complaint of Faisal Gul, an investigating officer at Jamshed Quarters Police Station. The FIR invokes sections 147 (riots), 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), and 506-b (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The case was registered at the City Courts police station in Karachi, Dawn reported. In the FIR, Gul said that PTI leaders and workers had resorted to "hooliganism" and created obstacles in the official police work when former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's nephew Hassan Niazi was presented before the court in Karachi in March, as per the Dawn report. According to the FIR, the PTI leaders misbehaved with police officials at the courts and tried to "intimidate" them. PTI Sindh general secretary Mobin Jatoi termed the registration of the case against Zaidi, Sheikh and others an act of "fascism." Jatoi accused the police of following the dictation of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Mobin Jatoi said that PTI workers had merely protested when Hassan Niazi was handcuffed against the court's orders. He further said that police had harassed PTI workers and lawyers in the court at that time. As per the news report, Hassan Niazi was arrested in Islamabad on March 20 in a case related to misbehaving with police officials when he was leaving the Federal Judicial Complex after getting pre-arrest bail in three other cases related to violence that took place on February 28 and March 18 when PTI chairman Imran Khan appeared at the complex. The Punjab Police had brought Hassan Niazi to Karachi on transitory remand in a case registered against him at the Jamshed Quarters police station, according to Dawn. He was later discharged by a judicial magistrate in Karachi. Earlier on Monday, Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan claimed that the police are carrying out a crackdown on his party workers, ARY News reported. Imran Khan in a tweet said, "ICT police led by a crooked IG, are cracking down on PTI pol activity when national elections are only a few months away. However, when a movement has youth like Afzal Khan, our F10 UC Chairman, as one of our emerging young leaders, then police brutality only strengthens our resolve." Several workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have been arrested by the Islamabad Police from the rally in solidarity with the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of Pakistan, ARY News reported. According to details, a large number of police personnel along with the prisoner van were deployed at F9 Park Islamabad. The Islamabad Police started arresting PTI workers as the rally approached the F9 park, as per the news report. The Islamabad Police arrested four PTI workers including two women. The police have vacated Jinnah Avenue from the PTI workers, as per the ARY News report. On Saturday, PTI carried out rallies across Pakistan to showcase solidarity with the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial amid a standoff between the judiciary and the government regarding the date of the election. (ANI)
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