Ziaullah Afridi in Lady Reading Hospital

PESHAWAR: Detained former provincial minister Ziaullah Afridi has been receiving some of his former cabinet colleagues, lawmakers, nazims and friends and relatives at the Lady Reading Hospital where he was shifted three days ago after complaining of vertigo.
He was arrested by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ehtesab Commission on July 9 on charges of misuse of authority and corrupt practices. In particular, he was charged with facilitating illegal mining and making unlawful appointments, transfers and postings.
Ziaullah Afridi was held at the Ehtesab Commission’s detention cell in Hayatabad. He was granted bail in one case by the Peshawar High Court, but the Ehtesab Commission arrested him in other cases. His lawyers’ subsequent attempts to secure bail for him from the Peshawar High Court haven’t succeeded.
His shifting to the Lady Reading Hospital was happy news not only for him but also his family, relatives and supporters, who could only see him during his occasional court appearances. His supporters staged protests against his arrest on the occasion of his court hearings, but the police increasingly made it difficult for his supporters to approach him.
On Sunday, some private TV channels showed footage in which Ziaullah Afridi was seen relaxing on a hospital bed at the Lady Reading Hospital and then eating pulao and a variety of food items. A number of his overjoyed supporters are seen in the room. Some of the ministers and lawmakers who reportedly visited Ziaullah Afridi in the hospital included Ali Amin Gandapur and Shah Farman. Among his visitors was Peshawar’s newly elected district nazim Arbab Mohammad Asim, who belongs to the PTI and had taken part in the party workers’ protests against his arrest.
Though there were reports that an attempt was being made for a patch-up between Ziaullah Afridi and the PTI leadership, particularly with Chief Minister Pervez Khattak, it wasn’t clear if the provincial ministers who met him carried any message of reconciliation from the party high-ups. Ziaullah Afridi’s arrest widened the existing gulf between him and the chief minister and triggered differences in the PTI ranks in Peshawar. He and his supporters openly blamed Chief Minister Pervez Khattak for his arrest. They argued that Ziaullah Afridi had filed more than 350 cases against those involved in illegal mining including many in the chief minister’s home district Nowshera.