Former PM Nawaz's aide Irfan Siddiqui arrested for violating tenancy law

ISLAMABAD: Police in the federal capital late on Friday arrested Irfan Siddiqui, noted columnist and a close aide to former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Police said Siddiqui was arrested for violating tenancy laws and renting out his house without informing police, according to a copy of the FIR available with Geo News. A case was registered under Section 188 at the Ramna police station.

Another man named Javed Iqbal, said to be the tenant at the house, was arrested along with Siddiqui. 

Siddiqui and Iqbal were presented before the court of Magistrate Mehreen Baloch on Saturday where police requested a judicial remand. 

Siddiqui and Iqbal were subsequently sent to Adiala jail in Rawalpinidi on judicial remand for 14 days.

Abdul Sattar Baig, investigation officer at the Ramna police station in Islamabad, said Siddiqui was arrested at 10:00 pm on Friday night.

"The arrest was made under the Deputy Commissioner’s order," he told Geo.tv. "The DC has imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the city for a period of two months, starting from May."

Section 144 is a temporary order passed in “urgent cases of nuisance or to apprehend danger,” according to the Criminal Procedure Code.

Under the law, the officer added, the police are not required to serve anyone a notice or give prior warning before making an arrest. 

“If Irfan Siddiqui is convicted, then he can be imprisoned for two to three months,” he said.