Court grants 8-day physical remand for PTI leaders in Islamabad rally case

Islamabad: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Tuesday approved an eight-day physical remand for PTI leaders Sher Afzal Marwat, Aamir Dogar, Zain Qureshi, Naseem Shah, Ahmed Chattha, and others in connection with the Sangjani police station case, while rejecting the physical remand request for Advocate Shoaib Shaheen and sending him to judicial custody.

Islamabad police had arrested PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar and MNAs including Sher Afzal Marwat outside Parliament House following a National Assembly session last night.

A heavy police presence had gathered outside the Parliament House in anticipation. As PTI leaders exited the building, police took positions and swiftly moved to detain them.

The arrest took place over violations during PTI's rally in Islamabad on Sunday.

The violations include disrupting the agreed route, breaching commitments, attacking Islamabad police, exceeding permitted timings, and delivering anti-state speeches.

According to Express News, Islamabad police presented Shoaib Shaheen and other arrested workers, charged under terrorism provisions, before Judge Abul Hasnaat Zulqarnain of the ATC today.

Prosecutor Raja Naveed requested a 15-day physical remand for the accused, stating that they used police equipment during the attack on police and that police kits were still to be recovered following their party’s rally in Islamabad’s Sangjani on Sunday.

Raja Naveed argued that while no recovery was directly tied to Shaheen, "everything was done under his instructions," which warranted the remand request. Shaheen’s lawyers opposed this, urging the court to discharge him from the case.

When asked, the court was informed that around 60 to 70 individuals had been arrested. After hearing the arguments, the court rejected the physical remand request for Shoaib Shaheen and ordered his transfer to jail on judicial remand.

The court also requested arguments for his post-arrest bail application tomorrow.

Five Members of the National Assembly (MNAs), including Sher Afzal Marwat, Aamir Dogar, Zain Qureshi, and Ahmed Chattha, were presented in court, where police requested their remand.

Marwat questioned the legitimacy of the case, saying, "Does the police have a single witness? This FIR was filed this morning, and [PTI Chairman] Barrister Gohar Ali Khan was discharged on the same evidence we are being presented with here."

The court noted, “You had a Kalashnikov, he did not,” to which Marwat responded, “You are fabricating this. I only had a pistol.”

After reviewing the police’s request, the court granted an 8-day physical remand for the five MNAs and three other suspects.

The court ordered their return for further proceedings after the remand period concludes.