RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Omar Ayub and Raja Basharat were granted post-arrest bail by an anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Friday in connection with a vandalism case.
Ayub, the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, along with Basharat and three other PTI leaders, was arrested by Rawalpindi Police outside Adiala Jail a day earlier.
The ATC, presided over by Judge Amjad Ali Shah, had directed the Saddar Superintendent of Police, Nabeel Ahmed Khokhar, to present the five suspects before the court by 7:30 pm on Thursday. However, as the police failed to meet the deadline, the judge issued a contempt notice against the SP, ordering the police to bring the suspects to court by 9 am on Friday.
Ayub, Basharat, and Ahmad Nasir Chattha are facing charges in cases registered at Injra Police Station in Attock and Hassan Abdal Police Station. Meanwhile, Raja Majid Daniyal and Malik Azeem were detained in connection with a case at Dhamial Police Station.
All five PTI leaders are also named in cases related to the November 24 protest, which includes charges of arson, vandalism, obstructing government operations, assaulting police officers, and damaging public property.
After his release, Ayub claimed he was kept in “illegal detention” at the Adiala Jail police post and Police Lines, where he was shifted the previous night. Speaking to the media outside the court, Ayub described his arrest as part of a “false case,” but expressed satisfaction that the court had accepted his bail plea.
“I also had protective bail issued by the Peshawar High Court. The court asked the police under which authority they arrested me in the presence of a protective bail, but they had no answer,” Ayub said.
He further pointed the finger at Punjab’s police chief, Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the Attock district police officer, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, holding them responsible for his arrest.
Ayub, along with several other PTI leaders, remains embroiled in multiple cases involving allegations of terrorism, violent protests, and other charges.
