ISLAMABAD: The PTI on Tuesday claimed that party founder Imran Khan’s cousin, Qasim Zaman, was taken into custody when he went to Adiala jail to meet the former prime minister, while the Rawalpindi deputy commissioner ordered his detention for 30 days under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance.

PTI’s Awais Younas Chaudhry told Dawn that Zaman used to visit the Adiala jail to meet Mr Khan as the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had allowed the jailed ex-premier twice a week meetings — on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“On Tuesday he [Zaman] reached the Gorakhpur Naka near the prison at around 2:40pm and informed the jail authorities that he was there to meet Imran,” Mr Chaudhry said, adding that, however, police detained him and shifted him to an unknown location.

Later, Rawalpindi DC Nadeem Nasir’s order for Zaman’s detention under the MPO surfaced. The MPO allows the authorities to order detention and restrict judicial review of such orders.

In his detention order, DC Nasir cited the ordinance, as well as letters by the police officials.

The Sept 6 order, a copy of which is available with Dawn, said police informed the DC that Zaman was a political activist “who is instigating/ planning to organise unlawful assembly/ commit violence, deliver unlawful speeches to cause damage to human life and public/ private properties”.

Mr Chaudhry said other lawyers, including Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Salman Akram Raja, Khalid Yousuf and Riaz Shah, also reached the jail but were not allowed to meet Imran Khan.

“It is nothing but contempt of the IHC order, which directs that meetings with family members and lawyers be arranged on Tuesdays and meetings with party leaders on Thursdays,” he said.

The party claimed the arrest of Qasim Zaman was a violation of the IHC’s orders regarding meetings with the incarcerated PTI founder.

Meanwhile, Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) condemned the arrest of Imran Khan’s cousin outside Adiala jail, describing it as an act of “blatant fascism” and a violation of fundamental constitutional and human rights.

In a statement, TTAP spokesperson Akhundzada Hussain Ahmad Yousafzai demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Qasim Zaman, saying his arrest was an example of state coercion, political victimisation and violation of basic human rights.

Published in Dawn, October 7th, 2026