ISLAMABAD: Former federal minister and senior PTI leader Shireen Mazari has been arrested in Islamabad by Punjab’s anti-corruption department, police said.
She was arrested from her Islamabad residence on Saturday by women cops, who were accompanied by male cops. Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz has ordered police to release Shirin Mazari, a few hours after her arrest from outside her residence in Islamabad.
The former human rights minister was taken into custody in a case related to the encroachment of a piece of land in District Rajanpur.
The case against the PTI leader was filed at the request of Deputy Commissioner Rajanpur, after which, the Anti-Corruption Establishment Punjab registered the FIR.
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Mazari is accused of encroaching upon a piece of land. A complaint was lodged against her on March 11, 2022, while AC Rajanpur was directed to inquire into the matter.
The concerned official prepared the report of the case on April 8 and in the light of this, the Anti-Corruption Establishment registered a criminal case under its Rules 2014.
Following the arrest, the PTI moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and announced to hold country-wide protests later today.
‘My mother has been kidnapped’
Speaking to journalists, Mazari’s daughter, Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, confirmed the development, saying that “male police officers have beaten and taken her mother away.”
She warned the new government that she would not “spare any of them if something happens to her mother.”
“I was only told that the anti-corruption wing has arrested my mother,” she said, adding that her mother was arrested without prior notice to the family.
Mazari’s message to Hamid Mir
In a message to senior journalist Hamid Mir two days ago, Mazari had said that she was “unaware of the matter and that she was seven years of age when the land reforms took place in 1958.”
The ex-federal minister said in 1971, she was studying at the London School of Economics (LSE) in England. The PTI leader also added that “we had won cases in the Supreme Court and Lahore High Courts”, without going into the details of the cases.
The former minister said that she was having the files pertaining to the matter searched at her village, adding that she does “not even own 500 acres of land.”
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