FAISALABAD, Nov 25: Five PML-N leaders, including two former MNAs, could not be released by the jail authorities on Tuesday despite grant of bail to them by a local judicial magistrate, as the provincial government issued their detention orders for 30 days.

A panel of lawyers, headed by deputy opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly, Rana Sanaullah Khan, and Advocate Rana Muhammad Azhar, pleading the case of former MNAs — Chaudhry Sher Ali and Mian Abdul Mannan and other activists, Mian Irfan, Khwaja Ijaz Munna and Khalid Saeed Gill — requested the court that the arrested politicians should be granted bails because they were not involved in any anti-social activity.

They described the arrest of the PML-N men as uncalled for and a proof of political victimization by the government.

The prosecution failed to satisfy the court for the more confinement of the accused in the jail after which Judicial Magistrate Mohsin Rasheed accepted their bail application and asked them to deposit surety bonds of Rs500,000 each. However, they were not released from the jail, as the provincial government issued their detention orders for 30 days.

The local police booked opposition leader Qasim Zia, deputy opposition leader Rana Sanaullah Khan, PML-N provincial president Zulfiqar Khosa, provincial secretary Saad Rafique, MNAs Raja Nadir Pervez and Fazal Karim, MPAs Malik Nawaz, Sheik Ijaz and Raja Riaz, former parliamentarians Mian Abdul Mannan, Chaudhry Sher Ali, Safdar Rehman, Akram Ansari, Zeeshan Elahi Shah, Rana Afzal, Khwaja Islam, Ijaz Ahmed Munna, Mian Irfan and Khalid Saeed on the charge of making provocative speeches against the government and levelling allegations on the army generals during a demonstration held against the arrest of Javed Hashmi.

However, former MNA Haji Akram Ansari and former MPAs Khwaja Muhammad Islam and Zeeshan Elahi Shah and MPAs Raja Riaz Ahmad and Sheikh Ijaz Ahmad, were granted pre-arrest bails by the local courts.