Daily Times

A district and sessions court in Attock Monday remanded MNA Sheikh Rashid Shafiq in police custody for two days in a case related to hooliganism and sloganeering against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his delegation at Masjid-e-Nabwi. Sh Rashid Shafiq is a nephew of Awami Muslim League (AML) chief and former federal minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. A day earlier, Rashid Shafiq was arrested at the Islamabad International Airport upon his arrival from Saudi Arabia. The police produced him before the court amid tight security and sought his remand for interrogation. Judicial Magistrate Jamal Mehmood granted the police a two-day remand of Rashid Shafiq and directed them to present the suspect before the court on the second day of Eid, says a news report. The judge adjourned the hearing till May 4. According to reports, strict security arrangements were made outside the court, as scores of PTI workers chanted slogans in favour of Sheikh Rashid. Zulfi Bukhari, Haleem Adil Sheikh and other leaders were also present to express solidarity with the AML leader. Bukhari claimed that religion was being used for political vendettas. The PTI leader accused Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah of creating conspiracies. Alongside Rashid Shafiq, the FIR includes 150 people of which those prominent are PTI Chairman Imran Khan, Shahbaz Gill, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Fawad Chaudhry, Qasim Suri, Sahibzada Jahangir and Aneel Musarrat. The charges were registered under Sections 295, 295-A, 296, and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code. The sections relate to harming a place of worship with intent to insult a religion, deliberate and malicious intent to outrage religious sentiment, disturbing religious assembly and abetment. Complainant Muhammad Naeem, a resident of Faisalabad, claimed that the incident at the holy site, videos of which went viral, was a “planned scheme and conspiracy”. Similar FIRs were registered in other cities of Punjab and the police have started arresting PTI activists. A similar application has also been filed at Karachi’s Aziz Bhatti police station.