Eleven hour escape saga ends,
Islamabad(Mudassar Chudary)_Police arrested Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry late on Wednesday as he came out of the Supreme Court,
The former federal minister took refuge at the top court building where he came to file an application against the arrest of Imran Khan earlier in the morning. He remained at the court till the evening.
The former federal minister yesterday moved the Islamabad High Court seeking directives to refrain police from arresting him as the lawmen launched a hunt for the PTI goons.
Fawad Chaudhry hid in the Press Association of the Supreme Court after closing the bar room. Despite the security officials’ repeated requests, he refused to vacate the room. The Islamabad Police also cut off the power to the Press Association of the Supreme Court, but it has no effect on the PTI leader who ‘cowardly’ took shelter in the apex court of the country.
Meanwhile, Chaudhry took to Twitter to share his views. “The Islamabad High Court gave a decision yesterday that I cannot be arrested in any case till the 12th, I am present in the Supreme Court where a petition has been filed against the arrest of Imran Khan and a heavy force of Islamabad Police is outside to arrest me. Exists Courts in Pakistan are practically closed,” his tweet read.
DSP Islamabad Police Tariq met Fawad Chaudhry and asked him to surrender showing an arrest warrant.
The party’s statement said the arrest was carried out despite Fawad having been granted protective bail by the Islamabad High Court till May 12.
Speaking to the media minutes before his arrest, Chaudhry said the powerful lawyers’ community had become weak as there was infighting within the fraternity.
“Never has a petitioner been arrested in such a manner,” he expressed, adding that Islamabad High Court had, a day earlier, approve his pre-arrest bail — which he had shown to the capital cops earlier in the day.
Lamenting that the party chief was arrested from court premises as well, Chaudhry said Khan’s arrest led to a division in the country.
He also called for giving space to political opponents to pave the way for dialogue.
Before Fawad, the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested PTI Secretary General Asad Umar from the premises of the IHC — the same court from where Khan was taken into custody.
The Islamabad police’s ATS officials picked up Umar from outside the IHC Bar Room where he and other PTI leaders were preparing a plea to be filed file in the IHC seeking a meeting with Khan.
According to eyewitnesses, the PTI lawyers fought with the police to prevent Umar’s arrest, but the law enforcers overpowered them and took the PTI leader away.
The military has been called in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Islamabad to maintain the law and order situation.
The violence has also claimed at least four lives in Peshawar with Sindh imposing Section 144 to contain the violent protests staged by the former ruling party workers and supporters.
