QUETTA: Police re-arrested Nawabzada Gazain Marri, a son of veteran Baloch nationalist leader late Nawab Khair Bukhsh Marri, soon after his release from the Quetta district jail on Tuesday night outside the penitentiary.

Mr Marri recently returned to the country after ending his 18-year self-exile to face cases filed against him.

He was released on the order of a two-member bench of the Balochistan High Court (BHC), which had declared his detention under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law illegal after hearing a petition filed by his lawyer Advocate Arbab Tahir against his re-arrest under the MPO law.

Advocate Tahir pleaded in the petition that a court had already granted bail to Nawabzada Gazain Marri in the murder and other cases, but district authorities concerned re-arrested him using MPO’s special powers.

A heavy contingent of police and other security forces cordoned off the Quetta district jail and asked jail authorities to hand over Mr Marri to police for investigation in some other cases.

However, the jail authorities did not allow police to take Mr Marri into custody from the jail premises and said that they had released Mr Marri after receiving his release orders from the Balochistan High Court.

Supporters resist the arrest delaying it for four hours

Nawabzada Marri and his supporters present on the lawn of the jail outside the prison building resisted his re-arrest.

Tariq Magsi, a member of the Balochistan Assembly and a close relative of Mr Marri’s, and lawyers of Mr Marri asked police to show arrest warrants for Mr Marri and refused to hand him over to police without police showing them arrest warrants.

Senior police officers, including DIG of Quetta Range Abdul Razzak Cheema, were also present on the occasion.

After four hours, the police succeeded in re-arresting Mr Marri and gave in writing an undertaking that police were taking him into custody for interrogation regarding his alleged contacts with the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).

Earlier, the two-member bench of the Balochistan High Court comprising Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhel and Justice Nazeer Ahmed Langove heard the petition filed by Advocate Arbab Tahir, the counsel for Mr Marri, against his re-arrest under the MPO law.

Advocate Tahir pleaded before the court that his client had ended his 18-year self-exile to face cases filed against him.

“Despite having bail orders from the court, the Home Department sent Nawabzada Gazain Marri to jail under MPO’s special powers,” he said.

Acting on his plea, the court ordered release of Mr Marri and said the home secretary had failed to submit his reply to the court in time.

Arrest termed contempt of court

Advocate Arbab Tahir, counsel for Nawabzada Gazain Marri, has termed the re-arrest of his client contempt of court because a two-member bench of the Balochistan High Court had issued his release orders by accepting the petition he filed against his arrest under the MPO law.

Talking to journalists after the re-arrest of Gazain Marri outside the Quetta jail, late on Tuesday night, Mr Tahir said there remained no case against his client. He said police re-arrested him under a conspiracy by saying that an FIR had been registered against him at the Industrial police station. Earlier, a police official had said that there was no other case against Gazain Marri and they also had no warrants for his arrest.

Arbab Tahir said he would approach the court against the re-arrest of Nawabzada Gazain Marri.

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2017