NAROWAL: Former federal minister Daniyal Aziz, an independent candidate from NA-75, Shakargarh, was allegedly tortured and arrested by police. However, the nature of charges against him is yet to be known.

Speaking to Dawn, former MNA Mehnaz Akbar Aziz, the wife of Daniyal, said her husband was visiting various polling stations along with a group of journalists when the police intercepted them near the village Mor Sulrian of Shakargarh tehsil.

Police stopped Daniyal and forcibly tried to bundle him into the van. They tortured him and kept pushing him while the media team accompanying him filming the violence was also subjected to torture by police and its mobile phones were snatched.

Ms Aziz alleged that PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal and his son, Ahmed Iqbal, who were Daniyal’s political rivals, were planning to target Daniyal even before the start of the election campaign.

“If Daniyal is not released immediately, the election of this National Assembly constituency should be declared null and void.”

Mehnaz Aziz claimed that her husband was winning by 200,000 votes from NA-75. She expressed her fears that her husband might be killed and if anything happened to him, Ahsan Iqbal and his son would be responsible.

Earlier, in a video message posted on social media, Mehnaz Akbar Aziz said, “Ahsan Iqbal and Ahmed Aqbal are the main culprits and they have used police highhandedness to arrest him because they could not control the election. I request the army chief, the whole army and the media to ensure release of Daniyal. The journalists covering the incident said that Daniyal was brutally tortured.”

In the subsequent video messages, she said Daniyal’s arrest was the direct interference in the election process. She said there were no arrest warrants for him. She posed questions to the Election Commission of Pakistan and the interim government about the free and fair election. She urged the voters of her husband to cast their votes in his favour.

Shakargarh journalist Dilshad Sharif said about 30 to 40 policemen stopped Daniyal and they wanted to forcibly take him with them. When Daniyal asked the policemen about the reason for his arrest, the police tortured him and pushed him into the police van. Dilshad said the media persons were also subjected to torture for not giving them cameras and mobile phones to the police.

Narowal DPO Rana Tahir Rahman Khan refuted the allegations of torture of Daniyal, claiming that he had been arrested according to the law.

Former federal minister Ahsan Iqbal said he did not know when and why Daniyal was arrested. About the allegations of Daniyal’s wife, he asked why he would get a candidate arrested who was in third in the election in NA-75.

Later, the journalists held a protest in Narowal against the police violence. They demanded Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi take notice of the incident.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2024