LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice President Sher Afzal Marwat on Thursday was arrested by Lahore Police from outside the Lahore High Court (LHC).
“Marwat was leaving the high court premises after attending a lawyers’ convention when a heavy contingent of police overpowered him and dragged him by his collar to a police vehicle on The Mall,” PTI lawyers alleged.
According to police, the PTI leader was arrested under 3MPO and shifted to Mazang police station.
PTI Senior Vice President (SVP) Sher Afzal Marwat was detained outside the Lahore High Court (LHC) by uniformed personnel, the party said on its X (formerly Twitter) social media account.
Footage of Marwat’s arrest shared by the PTI on X showed policemen dragging him by the collar as several lawyers tried to stop them.
The PTI described the “abduction” as “absolutely shameful” and said it represented “the respect for courts in the eyes of those in power”. The party also urged LHC judges to ensure Marwat’s safe recovery.
In a separate statement, it said Marwat’s arrest was a “manifestation of the prevailing lawlessness in the country and the fear and cowardice of the people in power”.
“The aim of these unconstitutional and illegal tactics is to escape from the elections and impose on the public those who were brought under the ‘London plan’,” the PTI alleged, adding that the “continued silence of the judiciary” was encouraging such illegal actions.
PTI Chairman Gohar Khan, while speaking to media persons outside the Election Commission of Pakistan in Islamabad, also condemned Marwat’s arrest. He said such actions against the party would affect free and fair elections in the country.
PTI Secretary General Omar Ayub Khan said Marwat was apprehended by Punjab police when he was enroute to address lawyers in Lahore.
“These tactics show the absolute moral bankruptcy of the illegal caretaker corrupt chief minister Mohsin Naqvi and a spineless Punjab Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar.
“The Constitution of Pakistan has been rendered useless and is in effect held in abeyance by the actions of the caretaker federal government. Parliamentary democracy does not exist in Pakistan at this moment in time. Anarchy rules in Pakistan,” he said.
Last week, the PTI leader alleged an attempted “abduction” by KP police while en route to Gulabad near Chakdara for a party convention scheduled in Bajaur.
Prior to this, a first information report (FIR) was registered against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Sher Afzal Khan Marwat and others for organizing a worker’s convention in Swabi.
In October, a case was lodged against him in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) for provoking the public against state institutions through social media.
The charges against him fell under sections 120-B (punishment for criminal conspiracy) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Last month, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) granted protective bail to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s senior vice president Sher Afzal Marwat in two cases registered against him in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
