-Sh. Rasheed seeks report on mistreatment issue of Haleem Sheikh
From Zeeshan Mirza
Karachi: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh on Monday has said that he was assaulted whilst in jail and had to be taken to the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) in Karachi.
In a video shared by the PTI Karachi chapter on Twitter, he claimed that 50-60 thugs had tortured and attacked him and other PTI workers. Sheikh was imprisoned after he was brought up on terrorism charges for allegedly inciting violence during the by-polls in the PS-88 constituency of Malir.
It is pertinent here to mention that an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi had sent the PTI leader to jail on judicial remand till February 25 on Friday.
The ATC had heard a case related to aerial firing and creating a disturbance in by-elections in Karachi’s PS-88 constituency on February 16. The counsels representing the accused had apprised the ATC judge regarding the recovery of a poisonous snake from the room of Sheikh, which had purportedly been planted by the Sindh government in an act of political revenge.
The PTI leader’s spokesperson Muhammad Ali Baloch had said on the occasion that the Sindh government will be responsible if anything happened to the PTI leader. During the hearing, the judge had said: We are sending you to jail and you will be safe there”.
According to the details, Jinnah Hospital Orthopaedics Director AR Jamali arrived at the NICVD and completely examined the Sindh Assembly opposition leader. Undergoing the examination, torture marks were found on the shoulder, neck, hand and other parts of his body. He will now be treated at Jinnah Hospital.
“I was told yesterday that Samir Mir Shaikh is being kept in a phansi gath (hanging cell) like me and they are treating him inhumanely,” Sheikh explained in the video. “Five senior colleagues of mine in the Malir District Jail since Feb 7, workers of the PTI and my constituency Iqbal Shah, Usman Bugti, Aziz Bhatti, Rao Yousuf, Khalil Mehsud’s son Nauroze Mehsud are being tortured in jail.”
The PTI leader said that Samir was being treated in such a way only because “he knows the PPP’s thieves and looters from within”. After meeting Haleem Adil Sheikh in the hospital, PTI lawmaker Khurram Sher Zaman feared that the PTI leader’s life is in danger and said that Prime minister Imran Khan has been informed about the situation.
He went on to add: “The rulers of Sindh have become selfish. A snake was found in the opposition leader’s cell, whereas, goons tortured the PTI lawmaker in jail.” Similarly, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Monday demanded the immediate release of Sheikh in a tweet, wherein the minister said that arrest was a political case.
