ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad police on Monday arrested Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Khan and party lawmaker Sher Afzal Marwat outside Parliament House in Islamabad, with more arrests of the party leaders are likely for allegedly violating newly enacted law on public gathering during the Sunday’s power show in the federal capital.
The federal capital police said PTI leaders Omar Ayub Khan and Zartaj Gul Wazir would also be taken into custody.
Marwat resisted the arrest and asked the police to show arrest warrant.
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Heavy contingents of police were deployed outside the parliament while all entry and exit routes to the Red Zone were also closed from D-Chowk, Nadra Chowk, Serena, and Marriott, except for Margala Road.
However, PTI MNA Ali Muhammad Khan was not taken into custody by the police when he departed from the parliament.
Marwat was arrested for violating regulations devised under a new law —Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill, 2024, sources told Geo News, adding that the PTI lawmaker was accused of clashing with police personnel a day earlier.
Alongside Omar and Zartaj, more PTI leaders Hammad Azhar, Kanwal Shauzab, Naeem Haider Panjutha, Amir Mughal, and Khalid Khursheed would also be arrested, the sources said.
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Several PTI lawmakers are currently present in the Parliament House including Gohar, Sheikh Waqas Akram, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, Zain Qureshi, and Shahid Khattak.
They added that Islamabad police were expected to launch a crackdown against the former ruling party’s Punjab leaders who attended yesterday’s power show.
It emerged that Islamabad police formally informed the Punjab top officials regarding the actions.
In a separate action, Shoaib Shaheen was also arrested from his residence.
Police filed cases against several leaders from the Imran-founded party under newly-enacted Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Bill, 2024, at Noon and Sangjani police stations.
28 local leaders including Seemabia Tahir and Raja Basharat were also nominated in the cases.
The first information report (FIR) stated that the charged PTI workers had attacked the police teams with batons and pelted stones who tried to stop them from violating the Islamabad rally’s route.
It added that police personnel deployed on security duties resorted to tear gas shelling and nabbed 17 party activists from the scene.
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