CCTV shows entry of Ansar ul Islam volunteers in Parliament Lodges

ISLAMABAD: CCTV footage of the Parliament Lodges has revealed an unchecked entry of Ansar ul Islam members, a volunteer force of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), inside the residences which later saw a police action culminating in the arrest of over a dozen members, ARY NEWS reported.

The CCTV footage showed more than 50 volunteers of Ansar ul Islam, an outlawed volunteer force, entering the Parliament Lodges from the main entrance.

No policeman could be seen barring the members from entering the residences of Parliamentarians.

On Thursday night, Islamabad police concluded the operation to oust the volunteers of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl’s (JUI-F) Ansar ul Islam Force from the Parliament Lodges.

Police officials and some National Assembly (NA) lawmakers came face-to-face after the higher authorities took the decision to oust remove the JUI-F volunteers.

Police concluded the 30-minute operation to clear the Parliament Lodges from Ansar ul Islam volunteers in which 18 persons were arrested including MNA Salauddin Ayubi, Jamaluddin and Mufti Abdullah.

Soon after the police action, JUI-F supremo Maulana Fazlur Rehman reached the Parliament Lodges along with other opposition leaders of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

He announced presenting himself before to police to arrest him alongside the JUI-F workers. Fazlur Rehman also called the JUI-F workers to take to the streets to protest against the police action.

Later, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed said in a statement that police tried to resolve the matter via talks but they did not obey the orders.

He said that national security is the top priority of the federal government. Rasheed added that a terror threat was already issued in Islamabad.

The interior minister, while talking to ARY News today, criticised that the opposition party was using the tactics after failing to get the support of the required number of lawmakers for the no-confidence motion.