MPA Faisal Zaman arrested from courtroom in murder case

ABBOTTABAD: The anti-terrorism court here on Monday sent Member Provincial Assembly (MPA) Faisal Zaman to prison after cancellation of his bail in the murder case of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activist Malik Tahir Iqbal who was killed in Haripur district a few months back.

The accused MPA Faisal Zaman, who was present in the anti-terrorism court, was arrested on the spot by CTD police. Unidentified gunmen had shot dead PTI leader Tahir Iqbal and his driver Sardar Gul Nawaz on September 14, 2020 in Kotera village of Ghazi tehsil in Haripur.

The accused had fled the scene, leaving their motorbikes. The police seized the motorbikes of the accused and started an investigation. The CTD police had interrogated various persons through call data.

They later arrested suspects from Battagram who revealed that Faisal Zaman had asked them to kill the PTI leader by paying him Rs1.4million. The CTD police with the help of local police raided the house of accused MPA Faisal Zaman but the police failed to arrest him.

However, the accused got bail from the court. Later, Faisal Zaman, who was also the Chairman Human Rights, was granted an interim bail by the Abbottabad ATC Special Court. Atif Ali Jadoon Advocate pursued the case on behalf of the accused.

The court had canceled the interim bail of the accused after hearing arguments from the lawyers. The accused was taken to the police station under tight security arrangement. A large number of people had gathered outside the court premises who chanted slogans against Faisal Zaman. A heavy contingent of police was also deployed outside the court.

The slain Tahir Iqbal was a PTI activist considered to be a close associate of Prime Minister Imran Khan. He was the party’s division deputy general secretary. The MPA in his brief chat with media, before appearing in the court, denied the murder charges and termed it a conspiracy of his political rivals who wanted to get rid of him by implicating him in a fake case.