0
LAHORE, May 1: More than 250 activists of opposition parties were arrested from different parts of Punjab in an attempt to stop them from joining lawyers’ protest rallies in Islamabad on Wednesday (today).
Over 200 arrests were made in Lahore, police sources said.
A senior police source of the capital city police confirmed to Dawn that raids and detentions were being carried out on the directive of the Punjab government.
The workers of PML-N, PPPP, JI, PTI and other parties were taken into custody during raids launched since Tuesday night, he said.
However, a majority of the wanted men had gone under ground when the police raided their houses and offices, he added.
A PML-N release claimed that the police had detained its dozens of workers from Lahore.
It said the police raided deras of Punjab PML-N vice president Malik Afzal Khokhar and Sajjad Hussain Cheena at Lahore and Muridke and detained five activists.
Phalia police took five workers into custody from the dera of party’s provincial leader Pir Tariq Yaqoob Rizvi.
It said police raided the public office of MPA Mujtaba Shuja and questioned his employees to know his whereabouts.
The houses of PML-N lawyers wing general secretary Saeed Tahir Solehri advocate, Khwaja Imran Nazir, Ramzan Siddique Bhatti at UC-135, Sheikh Kabir Taj, Mian Muhammad Tariq at Samanabad, Arif Qureshi at Gawalmandi, Zulfikar Rathur at Herbanspura, Salahuddin Pappi at Ichhra, and others were also raided.
A release issued by the Jamaat-i-Islami claimed that their office-bearers and hundreds of workers had been arrested by the police from different cities.
Punjab JI amir Liaqat Baloch and other leaders condemned the arrests and vowed to reach the Supreme Court by breaking all barriers.
They announced that justice Iftikhar Chaudhry would be given a warm welcome on May 5 in Lahore.
Punjab PPP information secretary Farzana Raja told Dawn by phone that according to her information, more than 200 party activists, including 20 office-bearers, had been picked up from various districts. She said 50 of the arrests had been made from Lahore.
SIALKOT: Police arrested 10 local leaders of MMA and PML-N. MMA MPA Arshad Baggu was put under house arrest.
GUJRANWALA: Police arrested over a dozen officer-bearers and activists of opposition parties from the city.
A majority of the `trouble-makers’, sources said, had disappeared before the raids.
The arrested include Maulana Naeem Butt, naib amir, Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith, Rana Shabbir Haider Mubarik, Rao Ishtiaq Ali Khan (PPP), Rao Zahid Ali, Khalid Suleman (PML-N), Munshi Nazir Ahmad (Jamat-i-Islami), Qari Naeem Faisalabadi (MMA), advocates Mian Salahuddin, Khwaja Jamilullah, Irshad Ahmad, Sabir Hussain Butt and Nadim Sadiq from Wazirabad.
Advocate Waqar Hussain Butt was released after a few hours.
Police also raided the residence of PPP leader Numan Butt and took away his driver in his absence. The crackdown was on till the filing of this report at 8pm.
SAHIWAL: Police arrested district JI amir Maulana Munawar Ali Khan, former district amir Dr Anwar Ahmed Sheikh, Kassowal JI amir Malak Amir Akhtar, JUI leader Abdul Razaq Mujahid and JUI-S leader Abdul Latif.
Police also raided the house of Malak Nadim Kamran, former MPA and district president of the PML-N, Haji Ehsanul Haq Idrees and Chaudhry Shaheed Ahmed Poswal but failed to arrest them.
MANDI BAHAUDDIN: District PML-N finance secretary Riaz Ahmad Khokhar and some others workers were arrested by police.
The PPP on the other hand formed a penal of lawyers for pleading free of cost the cases of arrested political workers.
OKARA: Police arrested PPP activists advocate Syed Ijaz Gillani, district PSF president Asif Khan Baloch and PML-N activist Haji Malik Muhammad Younis. Houses of PML-N’s Fayyaz Khan Ghori, Syed Shahid Iqbal and others were also raided.
KASUR: Police raided Darul Aloom Dinia, Pattoki, and arrested Qari Noor Muhammad Shakar of JUI and MMA secretary general in Pattoki.
In another raid on a mosque in Pattoki, police arrested Qari Tajdin of Ahle Hadith.
Former PPP MPA Sh Basit Jahangir, PML-N labour wing’s Haibat Khan were arrested from Kasur.
