Anti-terrorism court (ATC) along with the Islamabad police has detained Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen. It is to be noted that, Pashteen has been taken into the police custody for seven days.
Pashteen was nabbed in Balochistan’s Chaman on December 4 by Levies and police personnel from the Gudhamo area on disputed claims of firing by his party and local police.
Police has made a claim that the PTM chief was nabbed after gunshots were fired at police from his vehicle, while Pashteen’s party had levelled allegations that the law enforcement agencies fired at his vehicle when he was on his way from Chaman to Turbat.
Pashteen, during the last week, had made an announcement about joining the protest against the alleged extrajudicial killing of Balaach Maula Bakhsh in Turbat. The protest has been going on for more than a week after CTD claimed to have killed Bakhsh, as well as three other men, in an encounter on November 24.
The Minister for Information of Balochistan, Jan Achakzai, said that, “Pashteen had been safely handed over to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan police.” He said that, PTM chief was expelled from Balochistan and the provincial government was mulling banning the party.
While taking it to the official social media handle, Lawmaker Mohsin Dawar said that, “Pashteen was not produced before any court since his arrest on December 4. He remains forcibly disappeared. The state is violating the law openly and brazenly. We demand the immediate production of Manzoor in court.”
Whereas, the Pashteen’s lawyer raised an argument that there were no grounds of handing Pashteen over to the police. While adding that the former was kidnapped from Chaman and presented in court after three days, Pashteen’s lawyer, said that, “Holding rallies is our right. Pashteen’s vehicle was fired at in Balochistan.”
