LAHORE: A duty judicial magistrate at Cantonment courts on Thursday granted two-day physical remand of PTI social media activist Sanam Javed in a new criminal case of attacking a police team outside Zaman Park residence of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

Racecourse police presented the activist before the duty magistrate as the anti-terrorism courts were closed due to a public holiday on account of Iqbal Day.

The police asked the magistrate to allow a 14-day physical remand of the suspect.

Advocate Salman Shahid appeared on behalf of the PTI activist and opposed her remand. He argued that the re-arrest of the woman after the grant of bail in old cases showed sheer mala fide of the police. He said the police wanted to keep the activist behind bars by implicating her in fabricated cases.

The magistrate, however, granted the police two-day remand of the activist with a direction to present her before the anti-terrorism court after expiry of the remand.

The magistrate further directed the police to keep the woman suspect in police custody only during daylight hours and shift her to jail before sunset.

The police made the fresh arrest of the woman activist from Kot Lakhpat jail on Wednesday as she was due to be released following her bail in three previous cases relating to the May 9 riots.

Sanam Javed is accused of attacking the police party during a protest outside Zaman Park and hurling petrol bombs at the police.

An ATC on Nov 7 granted her post-arrest bail in a May 9 case of burning the party office of the PML-N in Model Town.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2023