The names of around 600 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and former lawmakers, including chairman Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, have been put on the no-fly list.
According to sources within the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA), the names of the PTI chairman and leaders have been added for their participation in the riots on May 9 and the damage to martyrs’ monuments.
According to the sources, the names have been included on the FIA’s Provisional National Identification List (PNIL) to prohibit them from traveling overseas.
Additionally, Bushra Bibi, the wife of the PTI chairman, has been included on the list. Murad Saeed, Maleeka Bokhari, Fawad Chaudhry, Hammad Azhar, Qasim Suri, Asad Qaiser, Yasmin Rashid, and Mian Aslam Iqbal are also on the list.
According to the reports, some PTI officeholders and leaders attempted to leave the country in the previous three days but were turned away at the airports.
Their names were supplied by the police, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), and intelligence agencies in an effort to prevent them from leaving the country.
Since May 9, the PTI has been the target of a crackdown that has resulted in the arrest of thousands of party members and officials over the party’s involvement in the riots that resulted in at least eight fatalities and numerous injuries.
Shireen Mazari, Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Aamir Mehmood Kiani, Malik Amin Aslam, Mahmood Moulvi, Aftab Siddiqui, Malaika Bukhari, and Fayyazul Hassan Chohan are among the party leaders who have publicly condemned the attacks on the state installations and declared their intention to leave the former ruling party since the vandalism on May 9.
On Thursday, an Anti-terrorism Court of Lahore directed the superintendent of the Camp Jail to hand over 16 suspects, arrested for alleged vandalism at the Corps Commander’s House – also known as Jinnah House – during the May 9 protests, to a military commanding officer.
The application, which contained the names of the 16 suspects, stated: “According to initial investigation, the following accused persons are prime facie found involved with the commission of offenses under the provisions of Official Secrets Act, 1923 read with Section 2(1)(d) and 59(4) of the Pakistan Army Act 1952.”
It added that “by committing the offenses under the said laws, [the suspects] have become subject to the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 and are exclusively liable to be inquired, investigated and triable by the military authorities in court martial”.
