669 TLP workers set free, Saad Rizvi to face court: interior minister

ISLAMABAD: 669 workers of the recently outlawed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order have been set free, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed revealed on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference, he cleared that 210 FIRs, including the case against TLP chief Saad Rizvi, which includes Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) beside Section 302 of the PPC, will go through legal process.

The minister said the ban on the party is not being reversed. It has 30 days to file an appeal against the government’s decision of banning it with the Ministry of Interior, after which a committee will be formed to decide the case, he explained.

He said the 669 workers arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) were released from jails. Most of them were from South Punjab and Faisalabad.

Sheikh Rasheed said Prime Minister Imran Khan will himself spearhead a drive against blasphemous acts.

Sharing details of the deal the government struck with the banned outfit, he said the agreement was reached at after 7-hour long talks on April 20 and it was agreed that a resolution will be tabled in the National Assembly on the expulsion of the French ambassador and the TLP workers arrested under MPO will be set free.

About 7,00 policemen got injured in violent protests by the religious party while 20 vehicles were set afire, the minister said.