• Gohar, Marwat, Zubair whisked away by police from outside parliament; Shaheen picked up from his office
• Several PTI leaders take shelter in assembly; CM Gandapur’s whereabouts ‘uncertain’
• Police mount surveillance at exit points, plan to round up rest of leadership by today
• PTI terms crackdown ‘setback for democracy’

ISLAMABAD: A day after the PTI held its power show on the outskirts of the federal capital, law enforcement agencies swooped in on the party’s top brass, whisking away at least three key leaders from different parts of the city, while forcing others to take shelter in the Parliament House.

By 11pm on Monday, there were confirmed reports about the arrest of PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, firebrand leader Sher Afzal Marwat, Waziristan lawmaker Zubair Khan and lawyer Shoaib Shaheen.

Barrister Gohar and Mr Mar­wat were taken into custody sep­a­ra­tely outside the Parliament House by a large number of personnel as police bundled them into vehicles as soon as they exited the assembly building after Monday’s session.

Mr Shaheen was detained from his office in G-9 in an apparent surprise raid, as seen in footage of the arrest. His staff at the office tried to put up resistance, but they were also taken into custody by almost a dozen police and plainclothesmen.

According to a parliamentary rule, police have to inform the National Assembly speaker prior to arresting any MNA, but it could not be confirmed whether law enforcers sought permission from the custodian of the house before arresting the MNAs.

Police officials told Dawn that at least three cases were registered against PTI supporters and leaders at Sangjani and Noon police stations following Sunday’s rally.

One of the cases was registered over the violation of the NOC issued for the public gathering and disobeying the orders of the district magistrate, whereas the second case pertained to the attack on a police contingent by a PTI group en route to the venue. Sources claimed that the FIRs were briefly sealed so that the names of the PTI leaders could not be leaked, preventing them from obtaining pre-arrest bails.

“After getting a green signal from the quarters concerned, the FIRs were de-sealed and a police contingent moved to the Parliament House,” they said, adding that a list of the PTI leaders was also prepared, carrying over a dozen names nominated in the FIRs.

PTI leaders Zain Qureshi, Zartaj Gul, Omer Ayub, Sheikh Waqas Akram, and Seemabia Tahir are also wanted by police, but fearing arrest some of them took shelter inside the Parliament House.

Since a number of offices and rooms in the building were locked, the PTI leaders subsequently took refuge in the Services Branch. According to police, multiple teams were deployed on Constitution Avenue as well as at the exit points of the federal capital to arrest the PTI leaders.

Police officials said they would try to round up the PTI leadership booked in the above mentioned cases by (Tuesday) morning and the residences and offices of these leaders were being closely monitored for the purpose.

Fate of Gandapur

On the other hand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur — whose thundering address at the Sangjani rally prompted an apology from Barrister Gohar Ali Khan — was said to be holed up in Islamabad’s KP House.

Police claimed there was a plan to put him under ‘house arrest’ and a large contingent of security personnel gathered outside KP House in the early hours of Tuesday.

The KP government spokesperson, who earlier feigned ignorance when asked about the CM’s whereabouts, later expressed fears that he may have been taken into custody.

Speaking to Dawn on Monday night, Barrister Mohammad Saif had said the KP chief minister had left for Islamabad at 3pm for “some meeting”, but since then he had not been in touch with the provincial leadership. Mr Saif said he had no idea where the CM was and his mobile phone was also powered off.

However, sources said that the KP CM was invited to Islamabad for a meeting.

Later, Mr Saif told Geo News he feared the KP CM had been taken into custody.

PTI denounces crackdown

In a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter), the PTI termed the recent arrests a blow to democracy.

The former ruling party linked the crackdown to the Sangjani power show, saying the government was “illegally arresting and abducting PTI’s elected members of parliament, from the premises of parliament itself”.

The statement also claimed that “multiple illegal arrests and abductions of members of Imran Khan’s PTI” had also been reported.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2024