RAHIM YAR KHAN: Police allegedly raided the houses and outhouses of the newly-elected Pakistan Tehreek Insaf-backed independent members of national and provincial assemblies late on Saturday night.

According to lawyer Hassaan Mustafa, son of PTI-backed MNA-elect from NA-171 Mumtaz Mustafa, police allegedly entered their house late in the night and harassed them.

In a video message on social media, he said the police also raided the houses and outhouses of other recently-elected PTI-nominated lawmakers, including Javed Iqbal Warriach (MNA-elect from NA-172), Asif Majeed (MPA-elect from PP-262), Naeem Shafiq (MPA-elect from PP-263), Ms Saima Kanwal (MPA-elect from PP-260), Jam Amman Ullah (MPA-elect from PP-261) and Sajjad Warriach (MPA-elect from PP-265) after breaking the main gates and doors of the premises, without having any warrants issued by a magistrate.

He also shared different footage and pictures recorded by the CCTV cameras to support the allegation.

Mustafa said C Division Station House Officer (SHO) Mr Hasan entered the house of MPA-elect Asif Majeed, while SHO of and B-Division police raided the residence of MPA-elect Naeem Shafiq.

He alleged that the district police officer (DPO) was directly or indirectly pressurising all these PTI lawmakers to vote for the PML-N candidate for prime minister’s office, Nawaz Sharif.

He questioned the DPO’s neutrality as a police officer, asking why a government employee was interfering in political process.

He said these lawmakers would not obey the DPO’s orders despite registration of fabricated cases against them.

He appealed to the local district bar association (DBA) to play its role in defending the legal rights of these lawmakers.

Hassaan said they were being continuously harassed by the police despite Lahore High Court (LHC) Bahawalpur Bench orders against such harassment.

He urged the judiciary to take notice of these atrocities. Police spokesperson Saif Ali Wains did not take the calls made by this correspondent on his mobile phone for the police’s version.

TOBA TEK SINGH: Scores of PTI workers from NA-98 (Faisalabad’s Samundri tehsil) held a demonstration on the second consecutive day on Sunday against alleged tampering of results to defeat Hafiz Mumtaz Ahmad Gujjar, PTI nominee for the seat.

Meanwhile, PTI’s Toba district president Mian Abdul Basit advocate said the returning officer of NA-106 and PP-121 had changed the results of PTI-backed candidates for the two seats, Nawaz Sadhraij and Saeed Ahmad Saeedi, respectively, who had been declared winners in Form 47 on Feb 8. The next day, he said, both were declared runners-up.

Mian Basit hoped the court would issue a stay order.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2024