Police detained PTI workers in several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday, holding about 140 people in Swabi, where mobile and internet services stayed off. A case in Swat names two MNAs, four MPAs and dozens of workers over a rally that blocked a road. Many leaders and activists had already gone into hiding.
Arrests in Swabi and a case in Swat
Police officials said leaders had directed workers to gather at Razaar Sports Complex, and that people were present there and at Ismailia Interchange. About 140 were arrested at those sites. Officers were deployed at Karnal Sher Khan Chowk in the district headquarters, in Topi tehsil, at Swabi Interchange and at Shewa Adda in Razaar tehsil. Shipping containers were placed at Swabi Interchange, Jahangira Bridge and the Indus River bridge on the M-1 Motorway.
Raids in the surrounding areas brought no further arrests, police sources said. Mobile and internet services remained suspended across the district because of security concerns, and residents, including journalists, had trouble staying in touch.
At Saidu Sharif police station, police registered an FIR on Monday, the written complaint that opens a criminal case. It names MNAs Dr Amjad and Sohail Sultan; MPAs Fazal Hakeem, Ali Shah, Akhtar Khan and Hameedur Rehman; Haider Ali and Imran, also called Swat Khan; and about 150 unidentified workers. MNAs sit in the National Assembly, and MPAs in the provincial assembly. The FIR says that on Sept 28 the group rallied on Mingora-Murghazar Road, blocked traffic, and made provocative, threatening and controversial speeches against the federal government and state institutions.
Raids from Chitral to Charsadda
In Lower Chitral, police arrested Shahid Ahmad, Sultan Mohammad Sher, Shafiur Rehman, Aminur Rehman and Khwaja Shakeel for trying to bring workers together. The planned protest was against the imposition of emergency and governor's rule. An emergency is a legal measure that can limit public meetings, while governor's rule means the federal government administers a province through the governor. The five were booked under sections 34 and 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code: section 34 covers people acting with a shared intention, and section 188 covers disobeying an order from a public servant.
In Abbottabad, police arrested several workers and searched leaders' homes. MPA Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, a former speaker of the provincial assembly, was placed under house arrest; he was said to be unwell. Officers did not find Taj Mohammad Khan Tarand at his residence. Tahir Mughal and three workers were arrested in Sherwan village.
In Battagram, police arrested district president Niaz Mohammad Khan, Hayat Khan, Ghulamullah Torkhail, Sajjad, Fazal Karim, Asmatullah, Khalid Khan and Gul Badshah. Raids on the homes of MNA Nawaz Khan and MPA Engineer Zubair Khan ended without arrests. In Shangla, party leaders said officers searched houses in the leaders' villages, including the house of MPA Abdul Munim. In Haripur, police also made no arrests; leaders and workers had gone underground a couple of days earlier after sensing the danger.
In Charsadda, police raided the hujra, a traditional guest house, of district president and MPA Arshad Khan Umarzai. Five people were taken into custody, three of them his personal guards, but the MPA was not there. Those arrests brought the number of PTI workers held in the district to 15. In Mohmand tribal district, security was on high alert during raids on the homes of MNA Sajid Khan Mohmand and other leaders, and police said he was not at home.
Markets were open and traffic moved as usual in Lower and Upper Dir on Monday. No protest against the emergency, and none in support of the party, was reported in Lower Dir. Public and private universities, colleges and higher secondary schools remained closed under government directives, and Deputy Commissioner Basharat Ahmad had banned public gatherings and processions in the district. Lawmakers Malik Shafiullah Khan, Humayun Khan and Ubaidur Rehman said on social media that police raided their houses but they were not arrested, while MPA Azam Khan, elected from PK-14, had been held before the emergency was imposed.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- Sept 28: Leaders and more than 150 workers rallied on Mingora-Murghazar Road in Swat and blocked the road.
- Before the emergency: MPA Azam Khan, elected from PK-14, was arrested.
- A couple of days before Monday: Leaders and workers in Haripur went underground.
- Monday: Police registered the Saidu Sharif case, arrested about 140 people in Swabi and five leaders in Lower Chitral, and kept mobile and internet services off in Swabi.
Aasan alfaaz mein
KP mein police ne kai ilaqon mein PTI workers ko giraftar kiya hai. Swabi mein qareeb 140 log pakre gaye hain, aur wahan mobile aur internet band hai. Swat mein do MNAs aur chaar MPAs ke khilaf case darj hua hai. Dir mein jalse band hain aur school aur college band hain, is liye log bazaar khula hone ke bawajood ikattha na hon.
