• Raoof Hasan arrested; documents, computers and TVs seized
• Barrister Gohar links move to SC order on reserved seats
• Ministry says it acted on info provided by held party worker

ISLAMABAD: Police and the Federal Investiga­tion Agency on Monday raided PTI’s Central Office over the suspicion of alleged “anti-state digital campaigns” and arrested the party’s information secretary, Raoof Hasan.

The arrest, which took place early in the day, was not confirmed by officials for hours. However, in a late night statement, the Minis­try of Interior said the raid was conducted on the information provided by PTI activist Ahmad Waqas Janjua, who was arrested over the weekend.

Officials have claimed that Mr Janjua, PTI’s international media coordinator, has been taken into custody over the possession of weapons and explosives.

PTI is involved in “anti-state propaganda”, the ministry’s statement said, without giving any more details.

A joint interrogation team is being formed to probe the case, it concluded.

Materials seized

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan has claimed that police officials seized CCTV footage and documents, including the record of PTI’s intra-party elections.

During a press conference later in the day, Bar­r­i­ster Gohar said the whereabouts of those workers were “still unknown”.

Initially, PTI leaders claimed that Mr Gohar was also arrested, but he later clarified that he had only accompanied Mr Hasan to the police station.

“Raoof Hasan is over 70 and battling cancer. My concern was his [safety], and I went with him. He was taken to Police Lines,” Mr Gohar later told the news conference held at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa house.

He added that the police had asked him to leave since he was not nominated in any case.

“We are always ready for an arrest,” Mr Gohar added.

PTI and its leaders have condemned the raid and called the police action “shameful”.

“It’s absolutely shameful how Islamabad Police continue to completely mock and disregard every law in this country,” read a post shared on PTI’s official X account, along with the raid’s footage.

The footage showed police officers escorting Mr Hasan from the party’s office in Isla­mabad’s Sector G8. Cops could also be seen loading TV and computer screens into a double-cabin vehicle. A few of them carried files and documents from the office.

PTI links raid to SC order

According to Mr Gohar, the arrested PTI leader was not named in any case, and if he is presented in court tomorrow, he will be discharged.

“The motive [behind the raid] isn’t any inquiry,” Mr Gohar claimed and said that as per the Supreme Court’s order, the party has collected affidavits from its 41 members, 38 of which have been “submitted to the Election Commission”.

Mr Gohar said provi­ncial assembly members from Punjab and Khyber Pak­htunkhwa were to submit their affidavits on Monday.

In its July 12 verdict dec­la­ring PTI eligible to get res­erved seats in the National Assembly, the Supreme Court had ruled that 39 out of the 80 MNAs, shown by the Election Commission of Pakistan as PTI candidates, belonged to PTI.

The 41 remaining independents were asked to file duly signed and notarised statements before the commission within 15 days, explaining they had contested the Feb 8 general elections as candidates of a particular political party — in this case the PTI.

PTI leaders Omar Ayub Khan and Asad Qaiser, who also addressed the press conference, condemned the action and called it an action to weaken the party.

Janjua remanded in CTD custody

Earlier in the day, an Islamabad court remanded Mr Janjua into the custody of the police’s Counter Terr­orism Department (CTD) for seven days.

While appearing before Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra, the inv­es­tigation officer revealed that CTD had recovered explosives from the suspect’s possession.

The judge noted that, as per the record, a “huge quantity” of explosives with a Kalashnikov rifle had been taken into possession”.

Mr Janjua has been booked in an FIR registered under sections 4 and 5 of the Explosive Subs­tances Act and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Interestingly, Mr Janjua, who has been in custody for almost two days, was presented in the court at the same time the Islamabad High Court started hearing the habeas corpus plea filed by his family.

As Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir summoned the attorney general, he was told that the ATC had already given Mr Janjua into CTD custody.

Justice Tahir then disposed of the petition and advised the petitioner to approach the appropriate forum as Mr Janjua has been recovered.

Malik Asad also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2024