Islamabad: Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, President of the Awami Muslim League (AML) and a major ally of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, was arrested by the Islamabad police in the early hours of Thursday.
The arrest came in connection with remarks the former interior minister allegedly made against former president Asif Ali Zardari, accusing him of hatching a “murder plot to eliminate PTI chief Imran Khan”.
The arrest was confirmed by Sheikh Rashid’s nephew, Sheikh Rashid Shafiq.
The former interior minister was arrested on a police complaint filed by Raja Inayat-ur-Rehman, a vice president of PPP Rawalpindi Division, on January 27, wherein he said that the AML chief, in a television interview on January 27, alleged that PPP co-chairman Asif Zardari got the assistance of some terrorist to kill Imran Khan.
The FIR
In the First Information Report (FIR), Raja Inayat-ur-Rehman stated that the AML chief tried to badmouth a former president and cause a “permanent danger” to the PPP co-chairman and his family.
The FIR added that Rashid, with his allegations, wants to cause a fight between the PTI and the PPP and disrupt the country’s peace.
The PPP leader added that the AML chief claimed to have vital information regarding a “conspiracy” being hatched to assassinate the PTI chief.
“If that’s the case, then the police should take both the leaders into custody under Section 150 and 151 and foil the conspiracy” to stop the spread of unrest in the country, he added.
Three sections — 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) — have been added to the FIR.
Moreover, police told journalists that a bottle of liquor and a weapon has been recovered from Rashid’s possession. Police also said that the former interior minister was “intoxicated” when he was arrested.
More to follow…
