PESHAWAR, Nov 24: A freelance journalist approached the Peshawar High Court on Saturday, praying that former senator Saifur Rehman be taken into custody and instructions be issued to the crimes branch to interrogate him for the murder of his brother.

The request came in an application submitted by Shahid Orakzai with a writ petition in the PHC against Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Saifur Rehman and the former MNA, Jawed Ibraheem Piracha.

The petition has been pending before the court which had twice issued notices to the federal government. The government has not filed any comments so far.

Apprehending the release of Saifur Rehman, the petitioner had earlier filed an application, requesting the court to issue directives to the government not to release Mr Rehman and to place him on the exit control list.

While the high court is yet to decide the application, Mr Rehman has been released a couple of days back on the order of the Supreme Court with the result that Mr Orakzai has filed a fresh application. The petitioner stated that the alleged killer of his brother Major Khalid Saeed Orakzai had now been granted full freedom.

He stated that the military government was unwilling to register a single corruption case against Mr Rehman despite documentary evidence of a horse-trading deal which the petitioner had provided to the NAB.

The petitioner recalled that an SC bench had ruled that the murder be investigated in the context of horse-trading allegations and that the murder had nothing to do with the religious beliefs of the victim.