Daily Times

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Bannu on Tuesday sent Member of National Assembly (MNA) Ali Wazir to jail on judicial remand.

Amid strict security arrangements, Wazir was presented before the ATC, where Magistrate on Duty (MoD) Shoaib rejected the plea to extend the lawmaker’s physical remand and issued directives for his transfer to Peshawar Central Jail. Wazir’s medical check-up was also conducted at the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital.

On May 27, special ATC judge Babar Ali Khan had remanded the lawmaker to the custody of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) for eight days.

According to the court order, the investigating officer of the case had requested the court for a 30-day physical remand of the lawmaker. However, the judge, after perusing the record, remanded Wazir to CTD custody for only eight days.

Police were directed to re-produce Wazir before the court on June 4.

The MNA was arrested following a clash between Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) workers and army troops in North Waziristan tribal district. On May 30, fellow MNA Mohsin Dawar was also taken into custody by law enforcers from Miranshah in North Waziristan.

Three people were killed and 15 ? including five soldiers ? injured in an exchange of fire in North Waziristan’s Boyya area, when the Kharqamar checkpoint was attacked during a protest.

According to a statement by the army’s media wing, MNAs Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir were leading the group.

“A group led by Mohsin Javed [Dawar] and Ali Wazir assaulted Kharqamar check post, Boyya, North Waziristan tribal district this morning. They wanted to exert pressure for release of suspected terrorists’ facilitator arrested the other day,” added the statement, without specifying who the suspect was.

“Troops at the check post exercised maximum restraint in the face of provocation and direct firing on the post. Due to firing of the group, five army soldiers got injured. In exchange of fire, three individuals who attacked the post lost their lives and 10 got injured,” it said.

The statement also disclosed that Ali Wazir along with eight other individuals had been arrested, while Mohsin Dawar was “at large” at that time.

Dawar, while speaking to VOA Deewa, had denied that the group opened fire and accused the army of initiating violence.