SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
Though the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has claimed that more than 70 of its workers were rounded up in the federal capital prior to the ‘Azadi’ march, so far only one petition has been filed with the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the detention of a citizen under section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).
According to Rizwan Chaudhry, a media coordinator of the PTI, the capital police arrested 70 workers of the party on August 12 and 13 under the MPO.
Section 3 of the MPO states: “Government, if satisfied that with a view to preventing any person from acting in any manner prejudicial to public safety or the maintenance of public order, may by an order in writing direct his arrest and detention…”
Petition says Bashir Ahmed has no link with PTI but police detained him illegally
According to the petition, Bashir Ahmed, a resident of Tarlai, was picked on August 12 while he was going to his residence. Initially, he was kept at the Shahzad Town police station and later shifted to the Adiala jail.
His son Usman Bashir contended in the petition that his father had no connection with any political party, including the PTI.
The petition added that the police picked Mr Ahmed in an alleged unlawful manner. It requested the court to set aside the detention order and direct the authorities concerned to release the detained person as soon as possible.
The IHC single-member bench would hear the petition on Monday.
Haseebullah advocate, a close relative of the detained man, told Dawn that the police trapped Mr Ahmed in a bizarre manner while he was going home.
He said on August 12 while Mr Ahmed was passing a checkpost at Park Road, some policemen requested him for a ‘lift’.
When Mr Ahmed stopped his car, the policemen requested him to drop them at the Shahzad Town police station. When they reached the police station, the policemen offered Mr Ahmed a cup of tea which he accepted.
But after serving him with the tea, the officials informed Mr Ahmed that he cannot leave the police station as he had been detained under section 3 of the MPO.
Haseeb alleged that Mr Ahmed was detained as the SHO wanted to please the authorities by showing a higher number of detentions prior to the ‘Azadi’ march.
It may be mentioned that the residence of PTI chief Imran Khan is also situated close to the police station.
The police also detained Mohammad Sajid under the MPO. A relative of Mr Sajid said the police did not assign any reason nor produced any notice before detaining him. He said Mr Sajid never remained an activist of the PTI.
When contacted, an official at the Shahzad Town police station claimed that both Ahmed and Sajid were activists of the PTI and had been detained in accordance with the law.
pakistan.shafaqna.com
