Qureshi named in eight more cases over May 9 unrest

LAHORE: The Lahore police Sunday implicated Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Vice-Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), in eight more cases related to the May 9 unrest.

Qureshi is currently imprisoned in Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail on multiple charges. Additionally, a special court established under the Official Secrets Act sentenced him to 10 years in prison in the cipher case.

Earlier Sunday, a special police team approached the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore to request permission to arrest, interrogate and summon Qureshi in connection with an FIR registered at the Sarwar Road police station. The court, however, denied the request citing security concerns. Instead, the court permitted the investigation officer to visit Adiala jail to interrogate Qureshi within three days.

The court order stated, “The accused shall be deemed to be on physical remand for that purpose.” The court also directed the police to present Qureshi via video link on Monday, May 27, and instructed the jail superintendent to arrange necessary facilities for this. Subsequently, the police visited the Rawalpindi prison and recorded Qureshi’s statement regarding the case.

Meanwhile, the PTI spokesman Sunday said there was no justification for the arrest of party’s Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi in any “false, fake and fabricated case”. Reacting sharply to the Lahore police’s arrest of Qureshi in eight more cases, the PTI spokesman maintained there was no justification for the arrest in any case. “The court has granted bail to Shah Mehmood Qureshi in all the cases in which he was arrested. The cipher case is sure to be trashed, so the law has been flouted again to keep him imprisoned by virtually nullifying the court’s decision,” the spokesman noted.

Qureshi, he contended, is being punished for standing by Imran Khan’s ideology. “It is becoming difficult to keep Imran Khan and his associates in jail in false, fake and fabricated cases, so new limits of lawlessness are being touched,” he alleged.

“We will take all possible action against this cruel act and free our innocent leaders and workers from jails,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, the PTI spokesman expressed deep sorrow over the martyrdom of Captain Hassan Jahangir and Havaldar Shafiqullah in Peshawar operation.