KP Assembly Chowk protest: Another PPP leader granted pre-arrest bail

PESHAWAR: Additional District and Sessions Judge of Peshawar, Ismatullah Wazir, has approved the interim pre-arrest bail plea of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa General Secretary Shuja Khan.

The bail was granted in connection with a case involving a protest at the KP Assembly Chowk and the alleged arson of a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) camp.The court has also summoned the police records by June 23.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyers, Advocates Gohar Rehman Khattak and Lajbar Khan, appeared before the court.They argued that their client, a senior political leader, was engaged in a peaceful protest when, on the behest of the provincial government, police resorted to baton-charging PPP workers and used force to disrupt the demonstration.

As a result, several workers were hospitalized due to tear gas shelling. Later, they were informed that a case had been registered against them at the East Police Station.The defense maintained that Shuja Khan was a respectable citizen and affiliated with a political party; hence, his pre-arrest bail should be granted.

After hearing the preliminary arguments, the court approved the interim bail and summoned the case record from the police by June 23.It is worth mentioning that in the same case, PPP Central Secretary General Humayun Khan, Provincial President Syed Mohammad Ali Shah Bacha, Ziaullah Afridi, and Shah Zulqarnain have also obtained interim pre-arrest bail from the court.