Controversies abound about men in plainclothes: Who broke into Maryam's hotel room to arrest Safdar

LAHORE: The controversy surrounding the identity and forcible intrusion of a plainclothes man into the PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s room in a Karachi hotel has deepened, with claims and counterclaims coming from both the government and the opposition parties. In a statement, Maryam Nawaz asked could the pangs of revenge drive someone so blind so as to break the door down and intrude into the room where a woman was asleep.

She asked which state meted out such a horrible treatment to its own daughters. “What is the mafia? What is state above the state? This is all visible to everyone.” She said calling someone as ‘nani, nani’ over difference of political opinion showed the degree of embarrassment of the rulers. She said the page had turned over and the government seemed to be at its last gasp.

Responding to Maryam Nawaz’s statement, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill said the CCTV footage had come out exposing her lie. He said the door latch was broken down and photographed after the police team had left. The footage shows it clearly that the police had only arrested Safdar Awan and the Rangers were not around, he said.

He said the door latch had been broken down and photographed and Maryam was adept at doing that. “Don’t tell a lie! Lie as much as you can prove. Liar sister, no matter how many pages you may turn, every page testifies that Maryam Safdar is ‘Calibri Queen’ and expert in forging trust deeds. The man in plain clothes applying force to the latch istheir own guard Shakoor. Watch out for the PML-N lies – they are expert at it,” Shahbaz tweeted.

Meanwhile, PML-N Secretary Information Marriyum Aurangzeb said Imran Khan should resign after the release of CCTV camera footage of breaking the door down and intruding into the hotel room of Maryam Nawaz.

"This footage is an irrefutable proof of Imran's shamelessness, lawlessness and political vengeance; he must resign. This is Imran's true horrible face, who has no regard for the respect and dignity of mothers, daughters and sisters of the nation. He must resign. The privacy of a woman was violated without even any arrest warrant for her. Imran should be ashamed of himself and must resign".

The former information minister said PML-N and PDM will not rest until all those responsible for that shallow and illegal act were taken to task. She said the nation deserved to know the reasons behind that kind of highhanded hooliganism and the intrusion of privacy in violation of Constitution of Pakistan. “The names of all those visible in the footage be made public.”