Qureshi re-arrested minutes after release

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi was rearrested Tuesday, minutes after being released from Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.

Party leader Musarrat Jamshed Cheema was also rearrested immediately after her release. Speaking outside the jail before his arrest, Qureshi emphasised that he was still a part of the PTI and would remain so. The former minister was then taken away by the police to an unknown location.

Earlier, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered Qureshi’s release after he had submitted an undertaking affirming that he would abstain from creating agitation and inciting workers. The former foreign minister had been arrested by the police in cases of riots and arsons in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

On May 18, the IHC quashed orders for Qureshi’s arrest and declared that he be released. However, the court had said that the PTI leader’s release would be conditional to his submission of a written undertaking that he would not partake in violent protests and refrain from inciting any kind of violence in the future.

Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted permission to PTI leaders Asad Umar and Sheharyar Khan Afridi to meet family members and lawyers during custody. Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, hearing the case, also instructed the authorities to provide the case record against Sheharyar Khan to his lawyer. The further hearing of the case was then adjourned until May 29. Asad Umar’s lawyer Amna Ali said that his client was not well and requested the court to allow the provision of home food to him during custody. His family should also be permitted to meet him, he said. The court accepted the request and adjourned the case.

Meanwhile, Justice Aamer Farooq also granted permission to PTI leader Colonel (reted) Ajmal Raja to meet his lawyers and family members.