From Abid Usman
LAHORE: The Punjab police has urged the federal government to block CNICs of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders (PTI) leaders who were declared absconders in May 9 vandalism cases.
In a letter written to NADRA, the police have requested to block the CNICs of 18 PTI leaders.
The absconded leaders include Murad Saeed, Imtiaz Sheikh, Farhat Abbas, Wasif Qayyum, Hamid Raza, Farrukh Habib, Aslam Iqbal, Azam Swati, Musarat Jamshed Cheema, Ahmed Niazi, Zubair Niazi, Saeed Ahmed Sindhu and Hammad Azhar.
Earlier, the Lahore police department prepared a new list of 850 suspects in cases related to the May 9 riots and arrested 54 accused who were allegedly involved in arson. Several Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders are facing probe after the May 9 incidents that were triggered across Pakistan after the arrest of the PTI chairman in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Violent clashes broke out across Pakistan after the former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested on May 9 this year.
The protests were held in remote and major cities as the party workers were agitated due to their chairman’s arrest, with Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad summoning the armed forces to ensure law and order. Army installations and the Corps Commander’s house in Lahore had come under attack during a protest by PTI workers.
Meanwhile, Former prime minister Imran Khan and PTI vice-chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi were indicted by a special court in cipher case again.
Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain of the special court heard the case against Imran and Qureshi. This was the second time that the PTI leaders were indicted.
During the hearing, both PTI leaders pleaded not guilty and said the indictment was ‘fabricated’. They also stated that the indictment was ‘illegal’ and they would challenge it in a court of law. Prosecutor Rizwan Abbasi informed the court that the statements of the witnesses will be recorded on Thursday.
The court then issued a notice to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and adjourned the hearing till tomorrow (December 14).
The first information report (FIR) was registered on August 15 under the Official Secrets Act. It was registered on the complaint of the Home Secretary.
Former prime minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi were nominated in the report, while names of former principal secretary Azam Khan and former planning minister Asad Umar were also mentioned. The FIR stated that the former prime minister and foreign minister distorted the facts of the diplomatic cipher. “A conspiracy was launched to misuse the contents of the cipher to fulfill nefarious purposes”, it added. It further stated that the former premier and top diplomat endangered the state interests.
