ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Hassaan Niazi was taken into custody by Karachi police on Tuesday on charges of threatening the state.
This comes after Punjab police had also taken him into custody earlier. Niazi, who is former prime minister Imran Khan’s nephew and his focal person on legal affairs, is facing multiple cases including inciting violence, interfering in police affairs, and the Zill-i-Shah murder case.
According to the first information report (FIR), Niazi and his associates incited the public through a social media video, where he hurled threats against defence institutions while addressing them, saying that no one will be spared if Khan is arrested.
The case of inciting hatred against the state among the public was registered on Monday on the report of Muhammad Iqbal at the Jamshed Quarters police station in Karachi. Karachi police authorities confirmed taking Niazi into custody, and a four-member team, including a senior investigation officer (SIO) and three cops, took him into custody.
Niazi will be presented before a court in Karachi after investigations. Meanwhile, sources have confirmed that the courts have granted bail to Niazi in cases registered against him in Lahore and Quetta.
The Karachi police had acquired transitory remand of the PTI leader yesterday for his transfer to the port city from an anti-terrorism court (ATC), which sent him to jail on a 14-day judicial remand in the Zille Shah murder case.
During the previous hearing, the investigation officer had sought Niazi’s physical remand for a photogrammetric test, but the judge approved a two-week judicial remand, rejecting the request for physical remand.
Niazi was detained on March 20 for misbehaving with police officials after securing pre-arrest bail in three other cases as he was leaving the judicial complex in the federal capital.
A local court in Islamabad had approved a two-day physical remand of the PTI’s focal person on legal affairs, and he was then sent to jail on a two-week judicial remand after the expiration of the physical remand.
