Another case registered against AML chief Sheikh Rashid

Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid has been named in another case at a police station in Murree for interfering in official affairs - a cognisable offence, Geo News reported.

The former interior minister, who is a close aide of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, was arrested in the early hours of Thursday [February 2] from Murree Motorway. The PTI chief condemned the arrest.

The First Information Report (FIR), lodged at investigation officer Aashiq Ali's complaint at the Aabpara police station, Islamabad, stated that Sheikh Rashid threatened police personnel and stated that he would not spare them.

The case was filed under Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Pakistan, charging the AML chief with interfering in official affairs and resisting arrest. The FIR states that the former minister pushed and assaulted the police officers and threatened them with serious consequences at gunpoint.

Two of his employees have also been implicated in the case.

The FIR states that the former minister came out with his armed servants and resisted police efforts while threatening them when the police arrived at his residence to arrest him. The FIR read that he was told that he was booked under three sections of the Pakistan Penal Code -- 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief).

The AML chief started resisting and interfering in the official affairs of the police while threatening them with serious consequences at gunpoint, the FIR stated. 

Abusing the policemen, Sheikh Rashid said he had been a minister several times and that he would not spare them, read the FIR. Hence, he committed an offence under Section 506ii (threatening to cause death or grievous hurt], 353 [Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty] and 186 [Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions].

The arrest

The police confirmed arresting Rasheed from Muree Road in the wee hours of Thursday. However, the former interior minister and his nephew, Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, contradicted the police's version and said that the authorities took him into custody from his house in Rawalpindi and not the motorway.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Rawalpindi Division President Raja Inayat Ur Rehman had filed a case against Rashid in Islamabad's Aabpara Police Station for alleging that former president Asif Ali Zardari was hatching a plot to assassinate the PTI chief.

In the FIR, the PPP divisional president stated that the AML chief tried to badmouth a former president and cause a "permanent danger" to the PPP co-chairman and his family.

The FIR added that Rashid, with his allegations, wants to cause a fight between the PTI and the PPP and disrupt the country's peace.

The PPP leader added that the AML chief claimed to have vital information regarding a "conspiracy" being hatched to assassinate the PTI chief.

"If that's the case, then the police should take both the leaders into custody under Section 150 and 151 and foil the conspiracy" to stop the spread of unrest in the country, he added.

Three sections — 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) — have been added to the FIR.

Moreover, police told journalists that a bottle of liquor and a weapon has been recovered from Rashid's possession. Police also said that the former interior minister was "intoxicated" when he was arrested.

Allegations

The PTI chairman had in January alleged that Zardari was hatching as well as financing an assassination plot against him for which the ex-president had hired "terrorists".

"...there's a Plan C. Asif Zardari is behind it. He has amassed a lot of money through corruption and he has invested that money in terrorists and hired a militant organisation," the PTI chief had alleged. However, the PPP strongly denied the claim and served a legal notice to Khan.

Following the allegations put forward by Khan, Rashid had also backed the claims and supported the allegations.