Shehryar Afridi, the head of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was detained by police early on Tuesday morning, according to sources cited by Geo News.
The arrest of Afridi coincides with the ongoing crackdown on the party’s leadership, members, and followers concerning the violent protests on May 9; unrest followed the arrest of PTI Chairman Imran Khan on that same day.
According to the sources, the former PTI minister was apprehended in Sector F-8 of Islamabad under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (3MPO). Fayyaz-ul-Hasan Chohan, the party’s head in Punjab, was also detained by law enforcement on Murree Road in Liaquat Bagh.
To stop him from entering the Rawalpindi Press Club, a sizable contingent was put in place. According to the authorities, a case was filed against Chohan on May 9 at the Sadiqabad police station, accusing him of setting fires and inciting workers to protest. Chohan is also charged with setting the Sixth Road metro station on fire and vandalizing it. However, the Anti-Terrorism Court has granted pre-arrest bail to the PTI politician until May 18. According to The News, police also conducted a raid on Chohan’s home last night but were unsuccessful in catching him.
Both Afridi and Chohan join the list of PTI leaders who have been detained following the nationwide unrest that followed Khan’s arrest, which the Supreme Court later deemed “illegal,” which also includes Asad Umar, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhary, Ejaz Chaudhary, Ali Mohammad Khan, Jamshed Iqbal Cheema, and Omar Sarfaraz Cheema.
While the PTI chairman was freed two days after being detained, a crackdown on the party’s politicians is still ongoing, despite a slowdown in the appropriate authorities’ response time. Dr. Shireen Mazari, Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Maleeka Bukhari, and other female party officials were detained during this arrest campaign.
The residence of former PTI minister Ali Zaidi has been designated a sub-jail by the provincial government of Sindh. On Monday night, an announcement in this regard was made. In the wake of the chaos in the Baloch Colony area on May 9, Zaidi was also detained by police enforcement. His family later filed a case against his detention with the Sindh High Court. The decision to designate Zaidi’s home as a sub-jail was decided on Monday during a meeting of the Sindh government to review the state of law and order.
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