KARACHI: Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh was taken into custody by the Anti-Encroachment Force (AEF) minutes after he was released on bail by prison authorities in a terrorism case.

Mr Sheikh, also a leader of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, was shown arrested in a second land grabbing case by AEF authorities.

Mr Sheikh’s dramatic arrest took place as soon as he came out of the Karachi central prison. AEF officials, who were apparently waiting from him outside the prison, whisked him away.

He was later shifted to the Anti-Encroachment police station and shown arrested in another land-grab case.

According to the fresh FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn, a former mukhtiarkar had allegedly illegally allotted 25 acres of state land to Mr Sheikh and 10 others for a cooperative housing society in Scheme-33, where the nominated persons had set up a cattle pen and warehouses. They were issued notices under the Sindh Public Property (Removal of Encroachment) Act, 2010, asking them to vacate the land in question, but they failed.

A case under Section 8(1) of the Sindh Public Property (Removal of Encroachment) Act, 2010 was registered at the Anti-Encroachment police station, East, on the complaint of mukhtiarkar Zulfiqar Ali Mangi on Aug 29.

AEF officials are likely to produce the detained Opposition Leader before the Special Court Public Property (Removal of Encroachment) to seek his physical remand for interrogation.

Earlier in the day, the ATC-XV judge, who was conducting the trial in the judicial complex inside the central prison, pronounced his order on an application seeking grant of post-arrest bail to the PTI leader and his release from prison.

The judge granted him bail subject to furnishing a surety of Rs50,000 and directed the prison authorities to release him immediately if his custody was not required in any other case.

According to the police, Mr Sheikh allegedly facilitated and instigated his aide Shahzada Faheem Laghari to open firing on the AEF’s Director and his team during anti-encroachment operation.

A case was registered under Sections 109 (abetment), 324 (attempted murder), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 506-B (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Gulshan-i-Maymar police station.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2022