PESHAWAR, Jan 10: A local court on Tuesday granted interim pre-arrest bail to owner of a property which was converted into a guest house by his tenant and allegedly used for immoral activities including blackmailing of young men and women.

The applicant, Haji Abdul Qayyum, claimed that the local police in illegal manner converted his property into a police station and when he filed a case against them, he was falsely implicated in the instant case of illegal activities at the guest house.

The court of additional district and sessions judge, Malik Amjid Raheem, restrained the local police from arresting him by granting him interim bail before arrest and fixed Jan 14 for further hearing. The court also put on notice the superintendent of police (cantt) andthe station house officers of University Town and Tehkal police stations.

The local police had on Dec 21 raided a guest house situated at Jehangirabad on the University Road after a woman had informed them about immoral activities going on there.

The police alleged that the owner of the guest house, Khalil Khan, used to lure young men by using some females. It is alleged that he had installed secret cameras in rooms and used to record videos of men and women following which these persons were blackmailed by him.

Advocate Babar Khan Yousafzai appeared for the applicant and contended that he owned properties on the University Road. He stated that the applicant had rented out his premises to the accused Khalil Khan whohad been running a guest house there.

Mr Yousafzai contended that the said tenant had escaped andhadnow beenabsconding whereas his father was arrested by the police.

He stated that when the applicant approached the police high-ups for vacating his residence which they had sealed, they declined to do so and instead set up the Tehkal police station in that premises.

The counsel stated that the applicant filed a petition before the local court on Jan 4 under the Illegal Dispossession Act requesting to declare the establishment of police station there as illegal.

However, he added that on Jan 7 the police officials also charged him in the case of immoral activities as co-accused, whereas he got nothing to do with the affairs of the said guest house.