Punjab IG orders 30-day detention of Saad Rafique, others

LAHORE: The Punjab Police has issued ordered to detain senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders, including former federal railways minister Saad Rafique.

The caretaker provincial government has been arresting dozens of PML-N supporters and leaders since earlier this week in a bid to thwart the party’s plans to welcome PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and his daughter who reach Lahore later today after being sentenced in the Avenfield properties reference.

According to Geo News, Punjab Inspector General of Police Kaleem Imam has written to the Lahore deputy commissioner ordering the detention of seven PML-N leaders and one’s house arrest for 30 days.

Apart from Saad Rafique, the party leaders include his brother Khawaja Salman Rafique, Mian Marghoob, Bilal Yasin, Khwaja Imran Nazir, Malik Saiful Malook and Waheed Alam Khan.

Moreover, PML-N’s Haji Rana Bakhtiar has been ordered to be placed under house arrest.

The order states that the PML-N leaders’ speeches and actions may disturb law and order in the city. 

Release illegally detained workers by 2pm: LHC 

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday ordered the release of PML-N workers illegally detained by law enforcement agencies by 2pm today.

According to PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, around 400 workers have so far been detained and arrested from Lahore and Rawalpindi. Shehbaz has slammed the interim Punjab government for the arrests of workers from Lahore ahead of party supremo Nawaz Sharif's return, terming the arrests "naked pre-poll rigging" in a press conference yesterday. 

Hearing a PML-N petition against the arrests today, Justice Anwarul Haq inquired from the provincial home secretary and police chief if they had a list of the detained individuals.

The home secretary responded by saying that 141 individuals had been arrested. The court then ordered the home department to immediately present the list of detained individuals.

"Any actions that disturb the system should not be taken," the court noted.

The IGP then informed the court that the arrests were made on account of terrorism.