ISLAMABAD: The capital police will produce Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed in a local court as his two-day physical remand in a case related to former president Asif Ali Zardari ended today (Saturday).
The former interior minister, who is also a close ally of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, will be produced before Judicial Magistrate Omar Shabbir. The investigators would brief the court about Mr Ahmed’s voice-matching and photogrammetric tests.
The AML chief was arrested by the Islamabad police in the early hours of Thursday from his home in a private housing society in the capital city.
A case was registered against Sheikh Rashid on a complaint lodged by the vice president of PPP’s Rawalpindi chapter at the Aabpara police station. In a talk show, the complainant said the AML chief accused the PPP co-chairman of having hatched a plan to use terrorists to assassinate PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
Earlier, the PTI chief had alleged that Mr Zardari had hatched a plot to get him killed, adding that a militant group had been hired for this purpose.
Sheikh Rashid Ahmed has been booked, according to the FIR, under sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups, etc), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code. His arrest comes after he defied a police notice to appear before the investigation team in the case by 4 pm on Wednesday. However, the AML chief has challenged the notice in the Islamabad High Court.
Following his arrest, two more cases were registered against the senior politician in Karachi and Islamabad. A case was registered against incarcerated Mr Ahmed in Karachi for using immoral language towards Foreign Minister and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
The case has been registered at Mochko Police Station under sections 506, 504, 500 and 153 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) on a complaint filed by a PPP worker named Khuda Bux. The complainant alleged that the former interior minister while talking to the media outside the Poly Clinic Hospital, Islamabad, used abusive language against Bilawal Bhutto.
Mr Bux said the former interior minister attempted to create chaos and anarchy by using objectional language towards the PPP chairman. He demanded the police to take an action against Mr Ahmed as per the law.
Meanwhile, a separate case has been registered against Sheikh Rashid at the Murree police station under sections 353, 186, and 506/2 for interference in official affairs when a security official reached his residence earlier this week to arrest him.
