Police have taken former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and seven other leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) into protective custody following the imposition of emergency in the province.
Afridi and the others were taken into custody immediately after the emergency was imposed in the northwestern province on Sunday over the deteriorating law and order situation, bringing an end to the provincial government led by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s PTI.
The emergency was imposed as the PTI was holding a protest march led by Afridi, demanding Khan’s release and access to medical treatment for him.
According to police officials, those in custody include Afridi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati and PTI’s provincial president Junaid Akbar, among others.
Police have also arrested 56 PTI workers in Swabi district during raids at various locations amid security concerns.
PTI workers had gathered at Ismaila Interchange and the Razaar Sports Complex, where they were detained during police operations, police said.Police also conducted raids at Shiwa Adda in Swabi district and several other locations in and around the district.
The provincial capital, Peshawar, remained calm after the PTI government was dismissed from power. The party had been ruling the province since 2013.
President Asif Ali Zardari issued a proclamation on Sunday under Articles 232(1) and 234(1) of the Constitution, citing rising terrorist attacks and a breakdown of constitutional machinery in the northwestern province, according to the presidential declaration.
“The extraordinary intensity of terrorist incidents poses serious threats to the lives and property of the public,” the declaration stated.
An emergency allows Pakistan’s federal government to assume key executive and legislative powers in a province during a security crisis or a breakdown of constitutional governance.
The entire bureaucracy, including the chief secretary, secretaries, commissioners, deputy commissioners and district police officers, has been reshuffled following the imposition of the emergency.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Sunday alleged that the PTI-led provincial government had a “nexus” with terrorist groups and claimed that intelligence and law enforcement reports indicated militants exercised influence in several districts.
Tarar said that the governor will oversee the affairs of the province with the assistance of an 11-member advisory council comprising former bureaucrats, officials, politicians and experts from different sectors.
The PTI has rejected the federal government’s accusations that it failed to tackle militancy and has accused the federal government of not providing the province with adequate funding and equipment for counterterrorism operations.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Peshawar on Monday to chair a high-level meeting of the Apex Committee on security matters at the Governor’s House.
On Saturday, Afridi had vowed to continue peaceful protests and rejected military operations as a solution to the province’s problems.
The PTI had initially planned to take the march to Islamabad for a sit-in, but the federal government said it would not allow protesters to enter the capital.
The long march followed the failure of two rounds of talks between Khan’s party and the federal government.
The party’s key demands include an immediate meeting with Khan, access to his personal doctors, the release of his sisters and supporters arrested ahead of the protest, a proper medical check-up for his wife, Bushra Bibi, and hearings in their cases without interference.
Khan, the 73-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician, has been incarcerated at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since 2023 and faces more than 100 cases, including corruption and charges related to inciting violence
