MIANWALI, Feb 2: As many as 198 student activists and workers of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal who were held in Lahore for their alleged involvement in the anti-marathon protest were released here from central jail late on Tuesday night.

The protesters were shifted to Mianwali Jail after their arrest in Lahore.

However, after the marathon concluded, the Punjab government decided to release 198 of the total 215 detainees, most of them belonging to the Jamat-i-Islami. The remaining 17 protesters were still in the jail.

JI’s Lahore Chapter office-bearers Samiullah Butt and Abdul Wahab Niazi remained present outside the central jail, along with local party officials, to receive the detainees who were released in groups by prison administration.

Most of the released people criticized the behaviour of jail staff.