PTI’s Shireen Mazari arrested in Islamabad 

Islamabad: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shireen Mazari has been taken into custody from outside her Islamabad residence by Punjab anti-corruption department on Saturday, GNN reported.

According to details, a team of the anti-corruption establishment and Dera Ghazi Khan police detained her in a case related to a property dispute in Rajanpur.

Reportedly, the former minister has been shifted to DG Khan from Islamabad’s Kohsar police station.

This was, firstly, stated by Iftikhar Durrani who turned to Twitter and said, “Dr Shireen Mazari has been picked up outside from her house a while ago, everyone must reach Police Station Kohsaaar!”

Dr @ShireenMazari1 has been picked up outside from her house a while ago, everyone must reach Police Station Kohsaaar!

#امپورٹڈ__حکومت___نامنظور

— Iftikhar Durrani (@DuraniIftikhar) May 21, 2022

In the meantime, Imaan Zainab Mazari— the daughter of former Federal Minister for Human Rights claimed that her mother has been ‘beaten’ by male police officers.

“All I have been told is that Anti Corruption Wing Lahore has taken her,” she added.

Male police officers have beaten and taken my mother away. All I have been told is that Anti Corruption Wing Lahore has taken her.

— Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir (@ImaanZHazir) May 21, 2022

Later, while talking to media persons, Imaan Zainab stated: “I don’t even know where she has been taken to, and in what offence?” 

She further added, “I’ll term it (the incident) as ‘abduction’ because an arrest is the act of apprehending a person, while informing family about the legal charges”.    

“My mother was tortured before her arrest and police dragged her away,” she stressed, adding that if something happens to her mother, she would not spare anyone. 

On the other hand, former Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudry condemned the act, saying “Government has declared war”. 

He added that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has been informed about the arrest and he would soon hold a press conference, in this regard. 

However, rebuffing the beating claims of PTI leaders, the footage aired on GNN News shows several female police officers detaining the former minister while forcefully dragging Shireen out of her car, after she resisted the arrest. 

It is pertinent to mention here that the lawsuit—a 64-year-old case— that has been reopened against Shireen Mazari was actually lodged against her father. Notably, she has been arrested on the alleged case of land grab registered in 1966. She claimed that she was just seven years old during 1958 land reforms.

While according to the Anti-corruption department, a complaint was lodged against her on March 11, 2022 for encroaching upon a piece of land, while AC Rajanpur was directed to inquire into the matter.

The concerned official prepared the report of the case on April 8 and in the light of this, the Anti-Corruption Establishment registered a criminal case under its Rules 2014.

More to follow....