PESHAWAR, Aug 7: A proscribed organization has decided to move the Peshawar High Court against the detention of about 60 people arrested during a crackdown by law-enforcement agencies in the province.

An office-bearer of the Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) told Dawn that most of the arrested people were innocent and they were arrested on flimsy grounds.

He said that they had remained members of the organization, but that did not mean that they were indulging in criminal activities.

An advocate of the high court, Khursheed Ahmad Shahan, dealing with such cases, said that they would file a writ petition in the next few days.

“Most of the detainees have been arrested either under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance or section 11EEE of the Anti Terrorism Act,” he said.

Instead of mentioning any specific charges against them, the government had issued a stereo-type order regarding their arrests, he added. Some of the detainees had already challenged their detention.

A two-member bench would take up for hearing on Monday a writ petition filed by Maulana Ismail Darvesh and Maulana Fakhr-i-Alam. They were arrested from Peshawar under section 3 of the MPO for a period of one month.

Another petition filed by Dr Tayyab would be heard on Tuesday. Dr Tayyab was arrested from Charssada district.

The petitioners stated that specific charges or material evidence should be brought before the office concerned before arrest orders were issued under the MPO. They referred to the cases of Khan Abdul Wali Khan and Benazir Bhutto wherein the superior courts had ruled that they could not be detained under the MPO without any specific charges.

The respondents in the petitions are the NWFP government, the provincial home secretary and the NWFP IGP.