ISLAMABAD: Police on Friday apprehended more than two dozen PTI and PAT workers in connection with attacks on the parliament and PTV building.
Reports quoting sources said majority of the arrested workers belonged to the PAT.Arrests were made at the entrance and exit points of D-Chowk. The accused are being interrogated.Reports said the police had made contact with Nadra for identification and other information of the accused. Footages from various TV channels had also been obtained to recognise the attackers.
Police had also recorded statements of high officials of the state-run television.Demonstrators had stormed the PTV building and occupied it for around half-an-hour before being removed by the army on September 1. The arrested persons have been booked in an FIR. Separately, the capital police conducted a raid on Secretariat of Majlis-e-Wahdatul Muslimeen and arrested Asad Abbas Naqvi along with nine workers.
Asad Abbas Naqvi is a member of the negotiation team of Pakistan Awami Tehreek. Police have shifted the arrested persons to an undisclosed location.Sources said the police have formulated a plan to arrest the leaders of PTI and PAT.
Central Information Secretary PTI Dr Shireen Mazari has condemned in strongest terms the arrest of DJ Butt in the early hours of Friday morning from the Guest House where he was staying and other workers from different parts of Islamabad.She said this is “sheer government terrorism” as no law has been broken by DJ Butt who merely looked after the sound system at the Azadi dharna.
Mazari also demanded release of all the other workers the government has arrested. She demanded that all containers be removed from Islamabad as the IHC has already passed an order for the same. “The government will not deter our Azadi dharna by such terror tactics,” Mazari added. - Agencies
Rasheed Khalid adds from Iskanderabad: Police conducted a crackdown on PTI and PAT activists in different parts of the Mianwali district and arrested them to prevent their attendance in the Jashan (celebration) at D-Chowk in the federal capital on Saturday night, as earlier announced by Imran Khan.
In its panicky reaction, the police started arresting suspected PTI supporters in the native district of the PTI chief.In some cases, out of ignorance, cops arrested some PML-N activists also. A cop confided to some local influential persons that police have been given task to arrest maximum number of people to show performance to their high-ups. In this effort, the cops at times could not notice whom they are arresting in different parts of the district.
There are reports that Punjab government is taking action against PTI and PAT activists across the province.The local leadership of PML-N made hectic calls to get ruling party activists released who were mistakenly arrested by the police.
When asked, many relatives of those arrested said that the government of Asif Ali Zardari was far better than the Nawaz regime as the PPP government did not arrest any person at national, provincial, district or even at union council level on political grounds.
Lahore Correspondent adds: The police launched a massive crackdown on PTI activists in the city on Friday night and arrested dozens of them and their leaders.
The police raided the houses of PTI workers and their leaders and arrested them. Mehar Wajid was arrested in such a raid. Police also raided the house of Malik Ejaz in UC-203 but failed to arrest him as he was not present.
Sources said the police raided the houses of PTI leaders and workers in different parts of the city including Dharampura, Ghaziabad, Daroghawala and Mominpura. A police officer said 10 reserves of police officials had been deployed at each exit point of the city including Ravi Bridge, Thokar Niaz Baig and Babu Sabu. The police officials are equipped with batons.
PTI activists alleged policemen were ignoring the sanctity of homes and manhandling women and old men in their homes. Sources said the police had arrested over 40 PTI activists from NA-124 so far. The crackdown was under way till the filing of this report.
