More raids conducted to arrest PTI leaders

PESHAWAR: More raids were conducted on the hujras (male guesthouses) of former lawmakers to arrest those charged in 102 first information reports (FIRs) lodged in different districts of the province for violence during protests by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

It was learnt that raids were conducted on the hujras of former minister Kamran Bangash, ex MNA Shaukat Ali and other leaders and workers but they could not be arrested. Over 2000 people have been held across the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for being part of the protests on May 9 and 10 during which several public and private properties were attacked, torched and ransacked.

A former member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly from Peshawar Arbab Jehandad was arrested from Murree the other day. Apart from a couple of former lawmakers arrested from other districts in the first few days, MPAs and MNA as well as senior leaders of the PTI charged in the FIRs have been hiding for the last couple of weeks. Mostly junior workers are among the hundreds who were held in the last two weeks.

Reports said that Torkham border authorities have been alerted to stop those charged in various cases from fleeing the country via Afghanistan.