MANSEHRA: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Senator Azam Khan Swati, who is in hiding to avoid arrest over May 9 violent protests, has withdrawn himself from election in NA-15 constituency here.

“My client [Swati] is no longer pursuing his legal case for NA-15 candidature as he has decided not to contest the Feb 8 election. Now, his covering candidate Shahzada Gustasab Khan will participate in the polls in his place,” lawyer Sardar Basharat told reporters on Saturday.

The PTI leader’s nomination papers for NA-15 Mansehra-II were rejected by the returning officer, who insisted Mr Swati couldn’t contest election for absconding from the law.

The Hazara Regional Appellate Tribunal upheld his disqualification prompting the lawmaker to move the Peshawar High Court, which referred the matter to the Supreme Court for decision,according to Mr Basharat.

His appeal against rejection of NA-15 nomination is pending in court

He said the returning officer didn’t allow his client to contest election for being an absconder but nominations of many absconding from the law were accepted in the province.

Mr Swati’s papers were challenged by PML-N leader retired Captain Mohammad Safdar, whose father-in-law and party supremo Nawaz Sharif is in the NA-15 electoral arena.

CRACKDOWN: The administration on Friday announced a crackdown on the smuggling of foreign currency here.

It also warned currency dealers against hoarding and said strict action would be taken against them.

The announcement comes in line with the instructions of the home and tribal affairs department, according to deputy commissioner Bilal Shahid Rao.

He also banned riverbed mining without permission in the district.

In a notification, he said the residents of Khaki, Nakot, Barkund, Tarangri Sabir Shah and Hari Mera areas were illegally excavating, lifting and transporting sand, gravel and stones from the Siren River, so he formally stopped them from that activity under Section 144 of CrPC.

EXIT FROM PTI: Chairman of the Channia Neighbourhood Council Malik Adnan Khattana on Saturday announced he had quit the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and joined the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

“I have become part of the PML-N as part of my commitment to my area’s development,” he told reporters.

Meanwhile, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl candidate in PK-40 constituency Abrar Hussain Tanoli on Saturday said if his party came into power, Oghi tehsil would become a district.

He told a public meeting in Oghi that the people should vote for the JUI-F candidates for development.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Peoples Party provincial general secretary Shujah Salim Khan has claimed that his party’s chairman, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, will be the country’s next elected prime minister.

“We [PPP] will win the Feb 8 general elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other parts of the country with a thumping majority to install governments,” Mr Khan told a public meeting here on Thursday.

Mr Khan is a candidate for the NA-14 Mansehra-I seat.

HELD: The police on Friday arrested six men after seizing around a dozen stolen motorcycles.

The detainees include Mohammad Sudheer, Abdullah, Wali Mohammad, Mohammad Shahzad and Mohammad Sameer, according to SP Bilal Ahmad.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2024