KP police in a fix after CM’s warning to rivals

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police would be in a fix after the warning of arrest by Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur to some top politicians of rival parties, who were reportedly named in a First Information Report (FIR) lodged in Dera Ismail Khan.

Media reports said on Sunday that the FIR was lodged against the top leaders of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in Dera Ismail Khan, the hometown of KP chief minister when the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was in power in 2022.

The reports said the FIR was lodged against Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz and Asif Ali Zardari at the Cantt Police Station of Dera Ismail Khan. The sedition section was mentioned in the FIR registered against the three leaders. The FIR was later sealed.

A senior police official, when approached by The News, avoided to share the details but confirmed that the FIR had been lodged earlier.

The KP Police lodged innumerable political FIRs in the last couple of years despite claims of being de-politicized force. The same force and Anti-Corruption Establishment lodged several FIRs in one year against the PTI leaders, who are now in power in KP and are not happy with several serving cops.

The KP Police and its bosses could be in trouble if the KP government decided to use the old FIRs against its rivals, who are serving at top positions in the Centre and Punjab, in a tit-for-tat after the chief minister had already hinted at that.

Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur last week said that FIRs had been registered against PMLN supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and President Asif Ali Zardari in Dera Ismail Khan district.

Gandapur had made the statement when he appeared in court. He had termed the FIR registered against him fake and warned the federal and Punjab governments to mend ways or it would become difficult for them to run the government.

He was dismayed after an Anti-Terrorism Court had issued non-bailable warrants for the KP chief minister and other PTI leaders over the May 9, 2023 violence.