Daily Times

Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai on Thursday sent a legal notice to former Balochistan caretaker information minister Jan Achakzai, Deputy Commissioner Quetta Saad bin Asad, the assistant commissioner and the settlement officer Quetta, demanding Rs20 billion in damages for falsely accusing him of occupying a piece of land and consequently registering an FIR against him.

Senior lawyers of Pashtunkhwa Lawyers’ Forum have filed the suit. In the notice, the PMAP chief has accused the former caretaker minister and government officials of indulging in baseless propaganda against him and conducting his media trial.

It is further written in the notice that baseless and fabricated allegations levelled against Achakzai had damaged his as well as his family’s reputation. The recipients of the notice have been asked to hold a presser within seven days of receiving the notice and seek an apology from the PMAP chief and his family; or otherwise pay Rs20 billion in damages. They have also been told that in the event of non-payment of damages, they will be taken to the court.

On Saturday last, a judicial magistrate in Quetta had suspended arrest warrant for Mahmood Khan Achakzai. The warrant was issued just a day earlier by a local court.

Mahmood Achakzai, who recently ran against President Asif Ali Zardari in the presidential election as the opposition candidate, was implicated in charges of house and criminal trespass, according to an FIR filed at the Gawalmandi police station on March 11.

The charges stem from allegations that he illegally occupied government land and obstructed official duties, incidents reportedly linked to an altercation involving his security guard during a raid on a plot of land across from his residence. The guard was arrested for possessing an AK-47 without a licence.