HDT leader Maulana Hidayat Ur Rehman arrested in Gwadar

• Rehman taken into custody along with three others.
• HDT leader apprehended from outside court.
• Balochistan Bar Council condemns arrest.

Gwadar police Friday arrested Haq Do Tehreek (HDT) leader Maulana Hidayat Ur Rehman outside a court in Balochistan's port city over the killing of a policeman.

A heavy police contingent was present outside the local court, which arrested three others along with Rehman — days after the HDT leader said he would reach Gwadar to surrender before the law enforcers.

The HDT leader is nominated in the first information report (FIR) of the death of the police constable, Yasir — who was killed by unknown assailants on November 27 during a protest.

In a statement, the police said a bullet hit the constable in the neck and he died on the spot. Following this, Balo­chistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langove ordered the police to register a case against the HDT leader.

The FIR, in which Rehman and others were nominated, alleged that the HDT leader provoked and incited people at the protest to pelt stones at government vehicles, following which the people threw stones and shattered the windowpanes of a police officer's car.

The protest, in which the unfortunate incidents took place, was part of the HDT's movement that had a wide range of demands and had been going on for the last two months.

The Haq Do Tehreek protesters in Gwadar have been demanding a reduction in the number of check posts, easier border trade and a total end to deep-sea fish trawling in the sea next to Gwadar.

In response, the Balochistan Bar Council condemned the arrested and said the HDT leader had to appear before the court to seek interim bail in the case.

"But instead, the Gwadar police forcefully arrested Maulana Hidayat Ur Rehman from the court's premises," the bar council said.