Police raid Mufti Kifayatullah’s residence, arrests his two sons

• Police nabbed Mufti Kifayatullah's four family members which include his two sons. 
• A group of JUI-F leaders and workers gathered at the Baffa Police Station after the police raid.
  
• The JUI-F leader had refuted the charges levelled against him.
  

MANSEHRA: Police raided the residence of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Mufti Kifayatullah in the Tarangire Sabir Shah, looking to arrest the politician on charges of maligning the army, The News reported on Sunday.

Police took four members of Kifayatullah's family into custody after not finding him at the house. Police had booked Mufti Kifayatullah, a former provincial lawmaker of the JUI-F headed by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, under Section 6 of the Constitution on treason charges after receiving an official letter from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Home Department, sources revealed.

Mufti Kifaytullah’s two sons, Shabbir Kifayat and Hassan Kifayat, his elder brother, Qazi Habibur Rehman, and brother-in-law, Qari Abdul Manan were arrested by police and shifted to the Baffa Police Station.

“We have been kept under illegal confinement since early morning as the police did not tell us what our crime was,” Qazi Habibur Rehman told reporters.

Mansehra’s District Police Officer Sadiq Baloch did not comment on the matter when approached by the media repeatedly.

JUI-F workers, leaders gather outside police station

Following the incident, a group of JUI-F leaders and workers gathered at the Baffa Police Station after the police raid on the residence of Mufti Kifaytullah.

A press release issued by the JUI-F demanded the release of the JUI-F leader's detained family members.

Read more: JUI-F leader Mufti Kifayatullah arrested from Islamabad

It read that Prime Minister Imran Khan should be booked under treason charges, not Mufti Kifayatullah, for maligning the army in the past.

The federal cabinet in a recent meeting chaired by the prime minister had decided to mobilise law-enforcement agencies to arrest Mufti Kifayatullah under Section 6 of the Constitution for allegedly maligning the army and other state institutions.

Kifayatullah refutes charges

The JUI-F leader had refuted the charges levelled against him. His comments in a TV talk show were cited as the reason for booking him on treason charges.

He claimed the government was putting pressure on him to change his loyalty but he won’t do that and would remain loyal to Maulana Fazlur Rahman.

The JUI-F activists held talks with Deputy Superintendent of Police, Raja Tahir, demanding the release of the detained family members of Mufti Kifayatullah.