Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Sher Afzal Marwat has allegedly been taken into custody outside the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Marwat was detained by a heavy contingent of police as he was leaving the high court after he attended a lawyers' conference.
Dramatic scenes were witnessed as Marwat was first calmly escorted out of the court premises by uniformed officers. But suddenly the scenes became chaotic with Marwat dragged into the back of a police van and quickly whisked away.
Full scenes of Sher Afzal Marwat's arrest, first asked to talk, then suddenly attacked, dragged by neck, Sher Afzal Marwat was transferred to Mazang police station. #SherAfzal #SherAfzalMarwat pic.twitter.com/poZA4Nn3Qj
— The Friday Times (@TFT_) December 14, 2023
Reports stated that he was taken to the Mozang police station.
Prior to his detention, he spoke to the media and stated how in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI has started to resurface irrespective of threats of arrest and FIRs. He also announced a schedule for party conventions in Punjab and Balochistan ahead of next year's general elections. Chants in favour of Imran Khan were also raised during his media talk.
Sher Afzal Marwat last speech before his arrest in Lahore
— The Friday Times (@TFT_) December 14, 2023
Watch: https://t.co/9zF1KD9VlM#SherAfzal #SherAfzalMarwat pic.twitter.com/A55Bb2fQBJ
The PTI leader said last week that while traveling to Gulabad, close to Chakdara, for a party convention that was scheduled in Bajaur, K-P police attempted to "abduct" him.
Marwat said that while he was approaching Gulabad, the police made a determined attempt to 'abduct' him; some 300 police personnel were allegedly involved in the incident.
But after a protest from the workers there, the police later freed him and told them to leave the area.
This happened after a First Information Report (FIR) was filed on December 3 against Marwat and PTI workers for planning a workers' convention in Swabi.
Authorities accused other people, as well as 21 local PTI leaders, of violating Section 144. The Criminal Procedure Code of 1898, Section 144, gives the district administration the authority to outright prohibit any kind of rally, assembly, protest, or gathering of more than five individuals.
In two earlier cases, Marwat had obtained protective bail from the Islamabad High Court (IHC).