Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the head of the Awami Muslim League (AML) and a supporter of the PTI, was taken into custody by Islamabad police early on Thursday.
Ahmed was detained in relation to comments he is accused of making about former president Asif Ali Zardari, in which he allegedly accused him of organising a “death conspiracy to kill PTI head Imran Khan.”
His nephew Sheikh Rashid Shafique confirmed the incident to Geo News, saying that the AML leader was taken into custody from his residence in an exclusive community in Islamabad.
The senior politician was detained as a result of a police complaint made by Raja Inayat-ur-Rehman, who claimed that the AML leader claimed in a television interview on January 27 that Asif Zardari, the co-chairman of the PPP, had received help from a terrorist to kill Imran Khan.
Imran Khan, the leader of the PTI, claimed in a broadcast address on January 27 that Zardari was behind a new murder plot, or “plan C,” and that a terror organization had been hired for the purpose. He didn’t provide any supporting details for his charge.
A copy of the first information report (FIR), which was filed at Islamabad’s Aabpara Police Station under the Pakistan Penal Code’s sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups, etc.), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief.
In a video message shared by the PTI on its official Twitter account, Ahmed told journalists that police ransacked his house and beat up domestic staffers while attempting to arrest him.
He asserted that his lawyer Mian Tahir had obtained his release on bail and continued by saying that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah was responsible for the incident.
Justice will win, and we are with Imran Khan, the AML chief declared, adding that “the IG has been called on Feb. 6 [for this imove]”.
The PTI chairman criticized the action in response to the arrest. Never before in our history have we had a caretaker government that is so biassed and vindictive, selected by the completely discredited ECP. Is Pakistan financially capable of supporting the street movement that we are being pressured to start at a time when our country has been bankrupted by foreign governments? he tweeted.
According to the FIR that was filed against the AML commander, Ahmed’s comment was made as part of a plot to malign the former president and pose a long-term threat to his family.
“He wants to destabilize the peace of the country by inciting animosity and war between the PPP and PTI with this invented and false plot,” it continued.
