'Abducted' PTI leader Moazzam Jatoi in police custody

MUZAFFARGARH: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Moazzam Khan Jatoi, whom the party claimed was abducted, was actally arrested by the anti-corruption department of police, it came to light on Thursday.

The PTI leader's whereabouts came to the fore after he was handed over by the anti-corruption police to the Saddar police station of Muzaffargarh police. The anti-corruption body filed a case against the lawmaker as well in its department.

District leadership of Jatoi’s party had claimed that unidentified persons had abducted him.

PTI Muzaffargarh Secretary General Mahar Javed Hasan had said MNA Jatoi had gone missing since he was abducted by unidentified persons from his residence in Multan on Wednesday.

Since the Supreme Court verdict pertaining to the reserved seats came in PTI’s favour, the former ruling party has blamed the government for a number of suppressive and repressive measures to pressurise its members to change their allegiance.

Seeking the top court’s intervention to resolve the matter, PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan claimed last week that lawmakers of his party were being forced to switch their loyalties.

He condemned the "abduction" of PTI leaders and their family members — including MNA Sahibzada Ameer Sultan, PTI media wing member Rizwan Malik, Mian Fayyaz Ahmad Chajra’s son Mian Tajamal Hussain and brother Mian Imtiaz Hussain and other social media activists.

In a major legal victory for the PTI, the SC on Friday ruled that the party was eligible for the allocation of reserved seats.

The decision has not only paved the way for the PTI's return to the parliament, which was kicked out of the February 8 polls owing to the ECP's December 2023 ruling, but has also increased the pressure on the coalition alliance as the judgement will change the composition of the National Assembly.

On the other hand, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on July 15 announced that the government had decided to ban the PTI and file treason references against the party founder Imran Khan and former president Arif Alvi. The move has been termed by the opposition benches a desperate attempt by the government.

"The PTI and Pakistan cannot co-exist," Tarar had told a press conference in Islamabad, saying that the matter would go to the federal cabinet and the Supreme Court.

Contrary to Tarar's claim, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar Tuesday said that the decision to impose a ban on the PTI had not been taken yet by the federal government.