NAWABSHAH: Peroz Shahani, a Badin district council member-elect and a close aide to former home minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza, was sent to jail on Monday upon completion of his two-day police remand in a terrorism case registered against him at the B-Section police station of the city.

The suspect was declared elected to the Tarrai union council of Golarchi taluka in Badin district in the unofficial results of the second phase of the local government elections held on Nov 19.

Mr Shahani was on Monday produced in the Nawabshah Anti-Terrorism Court, which heard his bail application and reserved the verdict till Dec 3. It gave the suspect in jail custody till Dec 7.

Defence counsel Ashraf Samoo filed an application praying that his client be allowed to be admitted to the Peoples Medical Hospital in Nawabshah for treatment. The court accepted the plea. The counsel also prayed to court that his client be kept in the district jail of Hyderabad instead of Nawabshah.

The counsel informed the court that the Nawabshah City DSP was pressuring Mr Shahani to change his loyalty to Dr Mirza and join the Pakistan Peoples Party. He claimed that the police officer was threatening him with dire consequences if his client did not agree to his terms.

The court ordered the DSP to appear personally in the court on Dec 3.

Later, the DSP, Aijaz Tareen, spoke to journalists to reject the allegations levelled by the counsel.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2015