PTI's Ali Muhammad Khan back in custody for fifth time
Ali Muhammad says he is against the "elements involved in May 9 incidents"
June 09, 2023
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Ali Muhammad Khan was rearrested for the fifth time after being released from the Jail in Mardan.
The PTI leader was released from the prison after an anti-terrorism court (ATC) discharged him from all the cases related to May 9 mayhem and attacks on civil and military installations. The court ordered the authorities to let him walk away if he was not implicated in any other case.
Soon after his release, the officials of the anti-corruption establishment (ACE) took him into custody in another case from outside the ATC premises.
Meanwhile, talking to journalists, the PTI leader said: "After being released by the court, the police wanted to arrest me in another case."
Ali Muhammad said that he was against the "elements involved in May 9 incidents".
The official, however, was of the view that the PTI leader was intimated in a case registered with the anti-corruption police.
The PTI leader was first arrested by the Islamabad police on May 11 under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Order (MPO) in connection with the violent protests and attacks on the civil and military installations last month.
The violent protests, triggered by the arrest of PTI Chairman Imran Khan from the IHC in the Al-Qadir Trust case, erupted almost across the country.
During the days-long protests, which ended only after Khan's release, enraged PTI workers allegedly attacked private and public properties, including military installations — the Lahore Corps Commander's House or Jinnah House and the General Headquarters (GHQ) entrance in Rawalpindi. At least eight people lost their lives during the violent protests.
On June 7, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) also ordered the release of the PTI leader, who had been arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance 1960 in the light of the May 9 violence.
A two-member bench comprising Justice Iijaz Anwar and Justice Syed Mohammad Attique Shah announced the reserved verdict on Khan's bail plea.
During the hearing, Justice Anwar remarked that whoever holds a press conference is released and the one who doesn't, gets arrested again.
"How do such serious allegations get abolished with just a press conference," he asked.
