SANGHAR: The chief organiser of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional was remanded in judicial custody for eight days after his arrest at his house on Wednesday.

Kashif Nizamani was reported to have been arrested in connection with an armed clash between two rallies held on Dec 15 in Sanghar. He was produced before the antiterrorism court of Nawabshah which remanded him in judicial custody.

A number of women gathered outside the sessions court of Sanghar and demanded his release.

The Sanghar Bar Association boycotted the court proceedings and held a protest demonstration on the court premises against the arrest. They said Mr Nizamani was a respected bar member and the case against him was politically motivated. They called an emergency general body meeting to discuss the matter.

Mr Nizamani’s son, Amjad Nizamani, told Dawn that police came to their house early in the morning and told them that the SSP wanted to see his father. His father, brother and he himself were brought to Jhol police station where his father was shown arrested while they were set free, he said.

Mr Nizamani was arrested under an FIR that was registered after the Sanghar clash. When the police produced him before the ATC, a Kalashnikov rifle was also shown to have been seized from him.

The original FIR copy did not carry his name that was included later on.

Another FIR was also registered against him under Section 23-A of the Sindh Arms Act at the Sanghar police station.

The Sindh Bar Council has announced a strike for Jan 7 in protest against the ‘unlawful’ involvement, arrest and detention of members of the Sanghar Bar Association. They mentioned the ‘victimised’ bar members as Alam Nizamani, Sajid Nizamani and Waqar Jat, and the arrest of Kashif Nizamani.

Kashif Nizamani told reporters outside the Sanghar prison that he was treated as a hardened criminal. He said he was taken to different stations using different routes as if he had been a proclaimed offender.

He said he was a diabetic patient, but police treated him harshly. He said he was a political worker and if the police had asked him to come to the police station, he would have done it willingly.

Mr Nizamani was formerly the president of the Sanghar press club for five times and is its lifetime patron-in-chief. He has held the office of the PML-F chief organiser for a long time.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2016