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ISLAMABAD: A district court in Attock on Monday approved a two-day physical remand of former Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid’s nephew Rashid Shafiq, who was arrested in connection with the Masjid-e-Nabwi case on Sunday.
Shafiq and Sheikh, who also heads the Awami Muslim League (AML), were produced in the court earlier today as the police requested the court for physical remand of Rashid Shafiq.
Giving his nod to the request, Judicial Magistrate Jamal Mehmood granted the police a two-day remand of Rashid Shafiq and directed to present the suspect before the court on the second day of Eid. According to reports, strict security arrangements were made outside the court as scores of PTI workers chanted slogans in favour of Sheikh Rashid.
Zulfi Bukhari, leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly, Haleem Adil Sheikh and other leaders were also present to express solidarity with the AML leader.
Shafiq was taken into custody on Sunday at the Islamabad Airport when an FIR was lodged against him and former ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders in Faisalabad over the recent incident of pilgrims surrounding Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s delegation in Masjid-e-Nabwi.
Later, he was remanded in the custody of New Airport police for a day on charges of posting a video on social media in which he was seen encouraging people who chanted slogans against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his delegation inside the premises of Masjid-i-Nabwi.
Alongside Rashid Shafiq, the FIR included 150 people – PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Shahbaz Gill, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Fawad Chaudhry, Qasim Suri, Sahibzada Jahangir and Aneel Musarrat.
The charges were registered under sections 295, 295-A, 296, and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The sections relate to harming a place of worship with intent to insult a religion, deliberate and malicious intent to outrage religious sentiment, disturbing religious assembly and abetment.
