ISLAMABAD (Kashmir English): Islamabad’s Anti-Terrorism Court has ordered the blocking of passports for 24 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) members of the National and Provincial Assemblies, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.
The court issued orders to block the passports of Asad Qaiser, Shahram Tarakai, Shah Ahad, Sher Ali Arbab, Muhammad Iqbal Afridi, and Dr. Amjad Ali.
The court also ordered the blocking of passports for Junaid Akbar, Shahid Khattak, Zubair Wazir, Omar Ayub, Arshad Umarzai, Zar Alam, Mian Umar, and Akhtar Khan.
Other members whose passports the court ordered to be blocked include Humayun Khan, Riaz Khan, Abdul Kabir Khan, Tufail Anjum, Asif Mehsud, Ajab Gul, Muhammad Usman, and Babar Saleem Swati.
Orders were also issued by the court to block the passports of Irfan Saleem, Advocate Ali Zaman, and Malik Shahab.
The court stated that, according to available records, the accused are named in the case. The investigating officer reported that the accused might flee the country to evade legal proceedings; they face serious charges such as attacking state institutions and promoting terrorism, and have failed to appear before the court.
The court noted that even those accused who had obtained interim bail did not join the investigation; consequently, the investigating officer’s request to block the passports was granted.
The court ordered the FIA to block the passports of the accused until further orders.
The police had requested the blocking of passports in connection with a case registered at the Kohsar Police Station; Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Abul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain issued the ruling to block the passports.
