KARACHI: Raising concerns over safety of its senior leader Ali Zaidi, the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf on Sunday accused the federal and Sindh governments of “abusing” their powers for a political vendetta.

Mr Zaidi, PTI’s Sindh chapter president and former federal minister, was taken into custody by the Karachi police on Saturday in connection with a decade-old fraud case.

Talking to reporters on the premises of Malir courts, city chief of the PTI Aftab Siddiqi sounded worried about the whereabouts and security of Mr Zaidi.

He said that despite passing 24 hours to his arrest he was not produced before a court. “His family and party aren’t informed about his whereabouts. Our lawyers are also not allowed to meet him.”

Mr Siddiqi said that the complainant of the case himself went missing as his cell phone was powered off. He questioned as to why he lodged an FIR at the Ibrahim Hyderi police station when the place of alleged incident fell within the remit of the Gulzar-i-Hijri police station.

He said that PTI leaders, workers and his legal team were informed that Mr Zaidi would be produced in a Malir court but after passing several hours they were told that he was not being brought here today.

“Now we don’t know where he’s and why he’s not produced in court even after 24 hours,” said the PTI-Karachi president. “This is not any legal action or criminal case but a political vendetta.”

He said that the Sindh government was using police to settle political score. “When they fail to find any evidence against Ali Zaidi, they came up with this fake fraud case,” he added.

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2023