Former Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister Khalid Khurshid Khan was among the PTI leaders arrested in Peshawar on Sunday night. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and several other people were held with him at the speaker’s house. The party’s official social media page gave that account, and a police source separately confirmed that the PTI’s Gilgit-Baltistan chapter president was in custody and wanted in multiple criminal cases.
Arrest at the speaker’s house
The police source said the arrests were made at the speaker’s residence. “Khalid Khurshid and others have been arrested from the speaker’s residence in Peshawar,” the source said. Sources added that Khurshid had been staying at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister’s residence since 2023 so that Gilgit-Baltistan police would not arrest him.
He was reported to have moved to the assembly speaker’s house on Sunday, after emergency measures and governor’s rule were imposed in the province. Governor’s rule means the governor is administering the province. Sources could not confirm whether he would be moved to Gilgit-Baltistan for court proceedings or taken to another city.
The PTI leaders arrested that night have been only partly named. The party’s account names Khalid Khurshid Khan, its regional president, and Babar Saleem Swati. Police confirmed Khurshid’s arrest and said others were held with him, without giving further names. He won the Astore seat in the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly on a PTI ticket in the 2020 general elections and afterwards became chief minister.
Cases linked to the arrest
A police source said the former chief minister was wanted in multiple criminal cases. In December 2024, an anti-terrorism court in Gilgit-Baltistan sentenced him to 34 years in prison and a fine of Rs600,000 for threats to security institutions made at a public gathering. Judge Rehmat Shah directed the region’s inspector general of police to arrest him and ordered the director general of the National Database and Registration Authority, which issues national identity cards, to block Khurshid’s card. He stayed away from the proceedings even though the court sent notice more than once.
He is also named in police cases tied to PTI protests and alleged confrontations with law-enforcement authorities in Lahore and Islamabad. In March 2023, he was accused of using Gilgit-Baltistan police personnel and government resources so former prime minister Imran Khan would have security in Lahore while authorities tried to arrest the PTI founder. The allegation followed the federal government’s collection of evidence about that use of personnel and resources. He has also faced allegations of using official resources to support PTI demonstrations.
In July 2023, a ruling of the Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court disqualified him from public office. The order dealt with allegations that his licence from the Gilgit-Baltistan Bar Council rested on a fraudulent educational degree. His term as chief minister ended with that ruling, after which several PTI lawmakers left the party, a coalition government was formed, and dissident PTI lawmaker Haji Gulbar Khan became chief minister. Even with those court orders and the criminal cases, he remained outside Gilgit-Baltistan police custody until Sunday.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- 2020: Khalid Khurshid Khan was elected from Astore to the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly on a PTI ticket and became chief minister.
- March 2023: He was accused of using Gilgit-Baltistan police personnel and government resources to protect Imran Khan in Lahore.
- July 2023: The Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court disqualified him from public office over allegations of a fraudulent degree used for a bar council licence.
- December 2024: An anti-terrorism court sentenced him to 34 years in prison and a Rs600,000 fine, ordered his arrest, and directed that his national identity card be blocked.
- Sunday night: He was arrested at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly speaker’s house in Peshawar, together with Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and others.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Gilgit-Baltistan ke sabiq chief minister Khalid Khurshid Khan ko Peshawar mein giraftar kar liya gaya hai. Un ke sath KP Assembly ke speaker Babar Saleem Swati aur kuch aur log bhi pakde gaye. Police ka kehna hai ke wo kai muqadmon mein matloob thay, aur December 2024 ki anti-terrorism court ne 34 saal qaid aur 6 lakh rupay jurmana diya tha. Yeh abhi maloom nahi ke unhein Gilgit-Baltistan bheja jayega ya kisi doosre shehar.
