Police get two-day physical remand of Sheikh Rashid
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – An Islamabad court on Thursday granted police two-day physical remand of Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid in a case related to allegations levelled against former president Asif Ali Zardari.
The former interior minister was produced before Judicial Magistrate Umar Shabbir where police submitted a record of the case and sought eight-day physical remand of the former interior minister.
Before his court appearance, the AML chief was taken to the Poly Clinic Hospital for medical examination. In an informal talk with the media, Mr Ahmed said his watches and cash had been confiscated by the security officials. He vowed to continue his struggle against the “imported government,” adding that the political landscape would be different after Feb 15. He said the days of the Shehbaz Sharif government were numbered.
Mr Ahmed was arrested by Islamabad police in the early hours of Thursday from his home in a private housing society in the capital city.
A case was registered against Sheikh Rashid on a complaint lodged by the vice president of PPP’s Rawalpindi chapter at the Aabpara police station. In a talk show, the complainant said the AML chief accused the PPP co-chairman of having hatched a plan to use terrorists to assassinate PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
Earlier, the PTI chief had alleged that Mr Zardari had hatched a plot to get him killed, adding that a militant group had been hired for this purpose.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has been booked, according to the FIR, under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups, etc), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code. His arrest comes after he defied a police notice to appear before the investigation team in the case by 4 pm on Wednesday. However, the AML chief has challenged the notice in the Islamabad High Court.
He told the media after his arrest that he would stand by Imran Khan and said truth would prevail. He claimed that hundreds of police officials barged into his house in the wee hours of Thursday without any warrant and arrested him. He said police arrested him despite a court granting him bail and ordered the inspector-general of police to appear before the court on Feb 6.
