KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Monday remanded in judicial custody Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) MPA Rabistan Khan, who was arrested for allegedly beating up a rival Pakistan Peoples Party candidate during the local government (LG) elections in Gulshan-i-Maymar on Sunday.

MPA Khan, along with 50 to 60 party workers, was booked for allegedly beating up his PPP’s Hilal Rehmani and his supporters outside a polling station after the polling had ended.

On Monday, the investigating officer (IO) produced the held lawmaker before the judicial magistrate (West) to seek his physical remand in police custody for questioning.

However, Mr Khan’s counsel vehemently oppo­sed the IO’s request for remanding him in police custody, arguing that his client was severely beaten up by around 12 men of the rival PPP candidate.

Arguing that his client was not feeling well and needed medical treatment, he requested the magistrate to remand his client in judicial custody.

Turning down the IO’s request for police remand, the magistrate sent him to prison on judicial remand.

Meanwhile, a judicial magistrate (East) granted bail to another PTI lawmaker, Adeel Ahmed, who was arrested for allegedly attempting to snatch ballot papers from a presiding officer at a polling station in Shah Faisal Colony.

The magistrate told the lawmaker to furnish a surety of Rs50,000.

Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh also reached the City Courts to show solidarity with the detained lawmakers.

Also on Monday, the administrative judge of the antiterrorism courts (ATC) granted two-day physical remand of a PTI candidate, Amjad Afridi, and his two brothers in police custody for allegedly beating a presiding officer and snatching ballots from him.

The judge directed the investigating officer to produce them on the next date along with an investigation report.

Rabistan Khan and others were booked under sections 324 (attempted murder), 337-A (punishment for shajjah), 171-F (punishment for undue influence or personation at an election), 365 (abduction), 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or for shorter terms) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on the complaint of PPP’s candidate Rehmani.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2023