ISLAMABAD – Following mounting pressure from members across the political spectrum, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq on Wednesday suspended the sergeant-at-arms along with four other security personnel for failing to prevent an intrusion at the Parliament House.
Speaker Sadiq established a fact-finding committee, led by an additional secretary, to investigate the incident further.
The incident occurred during a police operation aimed at arresting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders.
The suspended officials include Sergeant-at-Arms Ashfaq Ashraf, Security Assistant Waqas Ahmad, and junior assistants Abdullah, Waheed Safdar and Muhammad Haroon. Their suspension is effective for four months, with charges of dereliction of duty cited as the reason for the action.
The situation arose after the Speaker had issued production orders for PTI MNAs who were detained following their entry into the Parliament House. During a recent National Assembly session, Sadiq had indicated that decisive action would be taken, calling for footage from all entrances to Parliament.
The arrests were part of an operation by Islamabad police targeting PTI leaders. Among those taken into custody were PTI leader Barrister Gohar, Sher Afzal Marwat, and Shoaib Shaheen. The arrests took place between the night of September 9 and 10, with the police breaching the Parliament building to apprehend several individuals, including PTI members Sheikh Waqas Akram, Zain Qureshi, Naseemur Rehman, and Shahid Ahmad Khattak.
Other notable arrests included Owais Ahmed Chatha, Syed Shah Ahmed, Sahibzada Hamid Raza of the Sunni Ittehad Council, Yousaf Khan, Maulana Naseem Shah, and Ahmed Shah Khattak. Sources revealed that prior to the arrests, the lights inside the Parliament House were deliberately turned off, facilitating the police entry.
Despite attempts by law enforcement, Ali Muhammad Khan evaded arrest, while Zartaj Gul managed to flee the scene.
