'Shah Mahmood, Asad Umar, Swati Kept In Separate Jails Because They Were Fighting With Each Other'

'Shah Mahmood, Asad Umar, Swati Kept In Separate Jails Because They Were Fighting With Each Other'
Punjab caretaker Information Minister Amir Mir has said that a verbal spat broke out among Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, and Azam Swati during their first night in Kot Lakhpat Jail following ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’.

While speaking on a program of Dawn News, the caretaker minister said that the trio exchanged heated arguments and started blaming each other for their detention.

While justifying the authenticity of his statement, Mir said that PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi had earlier stated in front of the media that he was going to take tea but got arrested.

Moreover, Mir said that PTI leader Swati had told journalists that he did not court his arrest and that he had only reached the venue to extend his moral and political support to the PTI leaders who courted arrest, but he too got arrested.

He went on to say that this is why the three leaders were separated in different jails so they wouldn't harm each other.

It is pertinent to mention here that on February 23, Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s son, Zain Hussain Qureshi, approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) for the recovery of his father, who ‘voluntarily surrendered himself’ to police following ‘Jail Bharo Tehreek’.

In a plea filed by Zain Hussain Qureshi, he stated that his father, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, was arrested on Wednesday (yesterday), and the family is unaware of his whereabouts. It further stated that food and medicine were not being provided to the PTI leaders and workers detained yesterday.

The petition further stated that the leaders were caught on Mall Road and taken first to Camp Jail and then to Kot Lakhpat Jail, adding that PTI leaders have been detained illegally. The petitioner maintained that false cases can be made to harm the reputation of his father.

Zain Hussain Qureshi requested the court produce his father, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in court. Additional Chief Secretary Home, IG, and CCPO have been made parties to the petition.

Apart from Shah Mehmood Qureshi, an application was also filed seeking the trial of Asad Umar, Azam Swati, Umar Sarfraz Cheema, Dr Murad Ras, Waleed Iqbal, and other arrested leaders. The petition for the recovery of PTI leaders was filed by Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Ijaz Chaudhary.