HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit bench, on Thursday rejected plea for interim pre-arrest bail to Peroz Shahani, a Badin district council member-elect from former home minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza’s group, in a terrorism case.

According to Shahani’s counsel Pir Bux Bhurgari, the bench comprising Justices Aftab Ahmed Gorar and Mohammad Iqbal Maher handed him over to Nawabshah police following rejection of his plea for pre-arrest bail.

Shahani was booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 at the B-Section police station of Nawabshah vide crime no 188/15. He was declared elected from Tarrai union council in Golarchi taluka of Badin district.

The applicant had earlier approached the Sindh High Court in Karachi to seek protective bail and was to appear before the Shaheed Benazirabad ATC for pre-arrest bail. However, he couldn’t appear in court and again sought a protective bail from the SHC Hyderabad circuit bench which was granted with directives that he should approach the trial court within 10 days. He could not comply with the directive and again sought an interim pre-arrest bail but his plea was rejected on Thursday on the grounds that he did not appear in the trial court.

The defence counsel informed the bench that another FIR was lodged against his client vide crime no 80/15 at the Pangrio police station. He argued that his client did try to reach the trial court in Shaheed Benazirabad but due to the presence of police he did not succeed. He further argued that his client was facing political pressure because of being a close aide to Dr Zulfikar Mirza and that he might be killed in a fake police encounter.

NAWABSHAH: Nawabshah police arrested Shahani at the high court in Hyderabad as soon as his bail plea was rejected and brought him to the B-Section police station in Nawabshah where he was sent to the lockup.

City DSP Aijaz Tareen told journalists that Shahani was wanted in an extortion case registered against him at the police station under the relevant sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act on October 15. He said the remand would be sought from an Anti-Terrorism Court.

BADIN: Protesters belonging to the Mirza group and its other political allies in the recently held local government elections took to the streets of Badin, Tando Bago, Pangrio, Sangi, Furho and other towns and villages of Badin district on Thursday.

They raised slogans for the release of Shahani and against “political victimisation of Dr Mirza’s supporters”.

In his statement issued on Thursday evening, Dr Mirza condemned arrest of his aides and supporters in “false cases”. He vowed to continue his struggle for the rights of the people of Sindh and against the “corrupt and inept” government despite all odds.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2015