PESHAWAR: New details have emerged about the police operation in which former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi, provincial assembly speaker Babar Saleem Swati, Junaid Akbar, Khalid Khurshid and other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders were reportedly taken into protective custody.
According to sources, the police launched the operation at around noon on October 11. Sohail Afridi was taken into custody from his room at the Chief Minister’s House, where he was reportedly alone. The door was allegedly broken during the operation.
Official sources said Afridi was treated respectfully and was neither handcuffed nor transported in a prisoner van. He reportedly remained in conversation with police officers for approximately 45 minutes before being moved to a secure location.
According to sources, when asked about the long march, Afridi allegedly said there had been no intention to take the march to Islamabad, as an understanding with the government had reportedly been reached late at night through Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
He reportedly said the federal government had agreed to the demands for a meeting with the PTI founder and his transfer to a hospital. According to the account attributed to him, the march was to be formally called off once instructions were received from the party leadership.
Sources also attributed to Afridi the statement that the proposed amendment to the Police Act was intended to increase pressure rather than introduce changes to the law.
Meanwhile, Babar Saleem Swati, Junaid Akbar and Khalid Khurshid were reportedly taken into protective custody from the Speaker’s House. Junaid Akbar was allegedly present in a storeroom adjoining the kitchen at the time.
A provincial assembly member and a PTI social media team member were also reportedly taken into custody during the operation. Sources said the entire operation was completed in approximately two hours.
Reports of PTI leaders being taken into protective custody had emerged following the announcement of governor’s rule and an emergency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. However, the details of the operation and the conversations attributed to the leaders have not been independently verified.
