File photo of AML chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed
Islamabad Police early on Thursday arrested Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed—an ally of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf—over remarks in which he allegedly accused Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari of plotting to assassinate Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.
The former minister was arrested on a police complaint filed by PPP Rawalpindi Vice-President Raja Inayatur Rehman on Jan. 27. In his complaint, Rehman has claimed that Ahmed alleged in a TV appearance that the PPP co-chairman had hired a terrorist outfit to kill Khan. The same day, the PTI chief had alleged during a televised address that Zardari was colluding with “agencies” and had paid a “terrorist outfit” to assassinate him. He has yet to provide any evidence of these allegations.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) registered by Islamabad Police against Ahmed, he has been charged under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy); 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code. In it, Rehman maintains that the AML chief’s remarks sought to defame the PPP co-chairman and triggered a “permanent danger” to him and his family, adding that the allegations were aimed at sowing discord between the PTI and PPP to disrupt the country’s peace.
The FIR also notes that the AML chief has claimed to possess information about a “conspiracy” to assassinate the PTI chief, with Rehman adding that if this is true, police should take both leaders into custody under Sections 150 and 151 and “foil the conspiracy” and prevent unrest.
Police have said that Ahmed was arrested on the Murree Motorway by Murree Police, who then handed him to Islamabad Police for detention at the Aabpara Police Station, where the case has been registered. They have also alleged that a bottle of alcohol and an unlicensed weapon was confiscated from Ahmed’s custody and the former minister was “intoxicated” at the time of arrest. However, the AML chief and his nephew have contradicted this, claiming he was arrested from his home. In a brief statement to BBC Urdu, he claimed that around 100 to 200 policemen raided his house, harassed his employees, and forcibly took him away. He also vowed to challenge the arrest in court and claimed he had never drank of alcohol in his life.
The AML chief also accused police of working at the behest of Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and said the police action would not prevent him from supporting Imran Khan. He claimed police had violated court order by arresting him, as he already had pre-arrest bail.
Following his arrest, Ahmed was shifted to the Islamabad Polyclinic Hospital for a medical checkup.
‘Biased’ caretaker
Condemning the arrest, ousted prime minister Imran Khan reiterated allegations of caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi being ‘biased’ and ‘vindictive.’ In a posting on Twitter, he added: “Question is can Pakistan afford a street movement which we are being pushed toward at a time when we have been bankrupted by Imported Govt?”