SARGODHA: Mianwali police broke into the house of Dawn correspondent, Khursheed Anwar Khan, on Thursday night for no reason and harassed the family.

About a dozen policemen cordoned off the house while women police searched the house without producing any warrants and harassed his wife.

The police, this correspondent was told, are not happy with the journalist for reporting the recent incidents of snatching nomination papers from the PTI aspirants from Mianwali district, as well as for assisting PTI district vice president of women wing Amara Niazi, who is his relative, in submitting her nomination papers.

While leaving Khan’s house, the police said they raided the house on a tip-off that the journalist was hiding Amara Niazi and other PTI activists. It is also learnt that Khurshid Anwar Khan has extensively reported on the treatment meted out to former MNA Amjad Khan Niazi, currently in jail in the May 9 cases. Niazi was not allowed to sign his nomination papers despite the orders of the special judge of the Anti-Terrorism Court, Sargodha.

Khurshid Anwar Khan has an unblemished repute as a journalist and lawyer and there is no case against him.

Earlier, the Dawn correspondent had reported the incidents of snatching of nomination papers of the two PTI ticket aspirants from the returning office on the district court premises on Wednesday. Though both the aspirants blamed the policemen in civvies, the police had rejected their charges and showed ignorance about the alleged incidents.

The aspirants included Ziaullah Khan Niazi advocate, a retired judicial officer, and Rafiullah Khan, the brother of former PTI MPA Ameenullah Khan and Gen Sanaullah Khan Shaheed.

Meanwhile, the District Bar Association boycotted local courts on Thursday to show their resentment against objectionable behaviour of local police with bar members during collection of nomination papers at the RO office on Wednesday.

The lawyers in the chanted slogans against the government and local police. In another incident, the police raided the lawyer’s house who got nomination papers for PTI ex-MNA Amjad Ali Khan. The DBA demanded replacement of the returning officer.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2023