Punjab Assembly scuffle: Arrest warrants of 19 MPAs issued

LAHORE: Non-bailable arrest warrants have been issued by a local court in Lahore against 19 Members of the Provincial Assembly (MPAs) in a case related to the scuffle in the Punjab Assembly, ARY News reported on Friday.

The judicial magistrate Qasim Rasool issued non-bailable arrest warrants of 19 MPAs in the Punjab Assembly ruckus case.

The arrest warrants were issued for Sibtain Khan, Mahmoodur Rasheed, Aslam Iqbal, Raja Basharat, Murad Raas, Fayyaz Chohan, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Sadia Sohail, Sania Kamran, Abida Raja, Momina Waheed, Shahida Ahmed, Seemabia Tahir, Zainab Umar, Zaheeruddin, Sher Akbar, Khurram Shehzad, Mian Atif and Umar Aftab.

Earlier in the day, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore issued non-bailable arrest warrants for 17 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, including former federal ministers Hammad Azhar, Shafqat Mahmood, Yasmin Rashid and others for allegedly damaging state property during the party’s 25 May Islamabad long march.

The other PTI leaders whose arrest warrants have been issued include former provincial minister Murad Raas, Mehmoodur Rasheed, Mian Aslam Iqbal, Jamsheed Chemma, Zubair Niazi, Aijaz Chaudhry, and others.

The warrants were issued over Shahdra and Gulberg police’s request.

ATC Judge Abhar Gul Khan issued the arrest warrants for the PTI leaders after police approached the court and sought permission to arrest PTI activists.

Later, the ATC in Lahore approved interim bail pleas of 13 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, including former federal ministers Hammad Azhar, Shafqat Mahmood in different cases pertaining to allegedly damaging state property and violation of Section-144 during the party’s 25 May Islamabad long march.

All the PTI leaders named in the cases reached out to the court today for interim bails. The court accepted their requests and stopped the police from arresting them till June 17.