Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, the chief of the Awami Muslim League (AML) and former interior minister of the country, was arrested by police on the Murree Motorway in the early hours of Thursday.
Sheikh Rashid, however, opposed the police’s statement and said that he was arrested from his house in Rawalpindi and not the motorway.
Police will present Sheikh Rashid before court today to get his physical remand. Three sections — 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) — have been added to the FIR. According to charges filed against Sheikh Rashid, he could be sentenced to imprisonment for five to seven years.
Sheikh Rashid arrested by Motorway police according to the police version, claims that his crime was to side with PTI Chairman Imran Khan. He claimed that at least 100-200 police personnel raided his residence. “They entered the house through ladders, broke the doors and windows of the house, and beat my servants.”
He further said the police arrested him despite the fact that a court had granted him bail and ordered the inspector-general of police to appear before the court on February 6.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Rawalpindi Division President Raja Inayat ur-Rehman had filed a case against Sheikh Rashid in Islamabad’s Aabpara Police Station for alleging that former president Asif Ali Zardari was hatching a plot to assassinate Imran Khan.
Read also: Last Warning Issued To Sheikh Rashid To Appear Before Islamabad Police
The Islamabad police had issued ‘last warning’ to Sheikh Rashid Ahmad to appear before the police in connection with a complaint lodged against him for accusing PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari of planning the assassination of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan.
Police said that Sheikh Rashid Ahmed was not cooperating with the police in an inquiry being conducted in response to the complaint.
In a message, Sheikh Rashid retracted his earlier allegation levelled against Zardari. In a statement submitted in the police station, he claimed that the remarks had been made on the basis of a statement issued by Imran Khan, and that Rashid didn’t know if there was any conspiracy.
