Court grants bail to PTI leaders in long march vandalism case  

Islamabad: An Islamabad court on Monday granted interim bail to senior Pakistan Tehreel-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders for vandalism that took place during party’s “Long March” to Islamabad on May 25. 

According to details, the District and Sessions Judge granted bail to Qasim Suri, Shehryar Afridi, Ali Muhammad Khan, Asad Umar, Faisal Javed, Shiraz Basharat, Raja Khurram Nawaz, Sheikh Rashid, Murad Saeed, Pervez Khattak, Shah Mehmood Qureshi and others.

However, the court directed the PTI leaders to become part of investigation against them that is being held at three different police stations.

During the hearing, the Judge observed that there was no investigation involved in the cases of Tarnol, Golra and I-9 police stations. 

Reports quoting sources stated that the court reserved judgment on the bail pleas of PTI leaders in all the cases, which were later announced and the interim bail of all of them was confirmed.

Earlier, the anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the former ruling party’s leaders at the request of Shahdara police station under charges of damaging public property, torturing police officials, and creating chaos during the party’s long march to Islamabad on May 25.

Islamabad Police registered 16 cases against PTI Chairman Imran Khan and other senior leaders, including Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Asad Umar, following the riots in the federal capital during ‘Azadi March’.