By Javed Aziz Khan
“As the detention of Maulana Sufi Mohammad was going to expire during the Eidul Fitr holidays, we have extended his detention for another 30 days,” Peshawar District Coordination Officer (DCO) Sahibzada Mohammad Anis told The News.
Maulana Sufi Mohammad was arrested along with his three sons, Rizwanullah, Ziaullah and Hayatullah, from their rented house in Sethi Town on July 22.
After detaining Sufi Mohammad from Peshawar, a case was registered against him under different sections at Saidu Sharif Police Station. At least 16 cases against the TNSM chief are also lodged at Dir and Swat Police Stations, which the government had promised to withdraw but are yet to be withdrawn formally.
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) later ordered release of the sons of Maulana Sufi Mohammad, detained under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance after allowing a writ petition.
The counsel for the petitioners had contended that the detainees were sons of Sufi Mohammad but they were innocent and their arrest on the order of the Peshawar DCO was illegal. He had argued that the DCO had issued a stereotype order lacking any solid grounds for the arrest of the petitioners and there was no threat to public order from the petitioners.
The sons of the TNSM were later released on the court order. The Malakand Police, however, held them just outside the Central Prison Peshawar soon after they were freed. They were shifted to Dir Lower for production in a local court in an old case.
Three other sons of the TNSM chief were later arrested from Wazir Colony on Ring Road and were reportedly shifted to Haripur Central Prison a few days ago.
The family of Sufi Mohammad had shifted to a rented house in Sethi Town in the first week of July but the government was not laying hand on him. He was not going to be arrested had he maintained a low profile and not presided over a meeting of his ‘shura’ that was highlighted by the media.
After remaining in the limelight for brokering deal between the Swat militants and government, Maulana Sufi Mohammad mysteriously disappeared during the military operation in Malakand. One of his sons Kifayatullah was killed during the military action. Two other top leaders of the TNSM, Maulana Mohammad Alam and spokesman Amir Izzat, were also killed near Dargai after they were reportedly held.
Known as a firebrand cleric, Sufi Mohammad was the man who led thousands of people to Afghanistan to fight the US-led forces. On his return to the country, he was arrested and shifted to Dera Ismail Khan Central Prison where he remained behind the bars for several years.