BAJAUR/BATKHELA: The police on Friday arrested senior Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader and Nawagai tehsil council chairman Dr Khalilur Rehman for staging a rally to show solidarity with the detained party chairman and former prime minister, Imran Khan.

Party sources told Dawn that the detention of Dr Khalilur Rehman came shortly after a motorcycle rally concluded in Mamond tehsil following Friday prayers.

Scores of party workers mostly from Mamond tehsil attended the rally.

A video clip, which circulated on social media, showed a team of police officials approaching Mr Rehman as he was addressing the rally. Mr Rehman, the former president of the PTI district chapter, offered no resistance, walked away with police officials led by the Mamond SHO and boarded the police vehicle, which apparently left for the local police station afterwards.

Sources in the police department confirmed the detention of the PTI leader for holding a pro-Imran rally.

They said that a team of police officials led by the SHO held a meeting with Dr Rehman in his house on Thursday and requested him to postpone the rally citing the delicate law and order situation in the region as the reason.

However, he turned down the police’s request and announced that the rally would be staged “at all costs” as scheduled time.

The PTI workers criticised the detention of Mr Rehman and called for his immediate release.

Also in the day, former provincial minister and PTI leader Shakeel Khan and tehsil council chairmen Nasir Ali and Afzal Hussain were released in Batkhela area here as the Malakand anti-terrorism court granted them bail in a case of law violation.

The PTI leaders were warmly received by party workers, who garlanded them and took them to their houses in a rally.

The Malakand ATC approved the bail of four accused in the case, including former provincial minister Shakeel Khan.

The Malakand levies personnel arrested them lately on the charge of holding a rally against inflation in violation of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance. An FIR was registered against more than 150 PTI leaders and workers for violating the MPO.

On Friday, lawyers Irfan Moazzam, Akhtar Ali Khan and others appeared before the ATCto plead the case of PTI leaders for bail.

The court ordered the release of the accused after accepting their bail plea. It also accepted the bail request of former provincial minister Dr Amjad and ordered his immediate release.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2023