RAWALPINDI, Feb 17: Five members of Hizbut Tehrir were arrested in Sadiqabad on Saturday night, charged with distributing literature that contained anti-military and anti-state material.

The city police chief, Azhar Hameed Khokhar, told Dawn that the men were prominent members of Hizbut Tehrir, an organisation banned by the government.

“They were already on our wanted list, since they’ve been involved in such incidents in the past. Fresh charges are being filed in this arrest,” he said.

“These arrests are not related to the New Katarian incident,” Khokar added, referring to a recent police encounter there.

The five men were identified as Saad Jugranvi, Khalid Qadeer Butt, Qadir Ali, Muhammad Junaid and Muhammad Asif.