Hassaan Niazi gets bail from Quetta, Islamabad courts

QUETTA: A court granted bail to PTI focal person Hassaan Khan Niazi in a case registered over inciting the public. The judicial magistrate approved the bail against surety bonds worth Rs100,000 when Hassan Niazi was produced before him amid tight security.

Members of the Insaf Lawyers Forum and journalist Hafeezullah Niazi were present in the court during the hearing. The judge rejected a plea filed by police seeking a five-day physical remand of the political leader.Meanwhile, a district and sessions court in the federal capital also approved bail of Hassan Niazi against surety bonds worth Rs30 000. Duty Judge Ihtisham Alam Khan announced the ruling on the petition. The Quetta police took custody of Hassan Niazi from the Islamabad police a day earlier, after a case was registered against him at the Airport Policestation for allegedly provoking people to hold protests in the city.

Police said several PTI workers were arrested over protests earlier this month, adding that the detained suspects had named Hassaan Niazi duringinterrogation.A day earlier, a district court approved a one-day transit remand of the PTI leader to the Quetta police. The police had requested the transit remand to produce him before the judicial magistrate of Quetta, which was approvedby the court.Judicial Magistrate Mureed Abbas ordered that Niazi should be produced by the investigating officer in court on March 25.

A district and sessions court on Thursday had rejected a plea seeking an extension in the physical remand of Hassaan Niazi and sent him to jail on14-day judicial remand in connection with intervening in the affairs of the state.