Sohail Afridi Was Alone in the Room, Door Broken and Taken Into Custody; Inside Story Emerges

PESHAWAR (Qudrat Roznama): The story of taking former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, Provincial Assembly Speaker Babar Swati, Junaid Akbar and others into protective custody in Peshawar has come to light.

According to sources, police launched the operation at 12 noon on October 11 and took Sohail Afridi into protective custody from his room at the Chief Minister’s House. Sohail Afridi was alone in the room, and the door of the room was broken.

According to official sources, Sohail Afridi was neither handcuffed nor placed in a prisoners’ vehicle. Sohail Afridi remained in the room with the officers for 45 minutes, and police officials held a conversation with Sohail Afridi in the room for 45 minutes. Sohail Afridi was respectfully shifted in a vehicle to a safe location.

A police officer asked Sohail Afridi how far he intended to take the long march, to which Sohail Afridi replied that the long march was not to be taken to Islamabad; an understanding with the government had been reached at night through Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and the federal government had accepted the demands for a meeting with the PTI founder and his transfer to hospital. Sources said that Sohail Afridi further stated in his reply that he had spoken with party leaders and was to announce the end of the long march as soon as instructions were received.

According to sources, the officers asked Sohail Afridi what the purpose of amending the Police Act was, to which Sohail Afridi replied that he did not want to amend the Police Act; it was done to exert pressure.

According to sources, KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, Junaid Akbar and Khalid Khurshid were taken into protective custody from the Speaker’s House. According to official sources, Junaid Akbar was in a store attached to the kitchen in the Speaker’s House.

Sources said that an MPA and a PTI social media official were also taken into custody at the Speaker’s House. The operation to take PTI leaders into protective custody was completed within 2 hours.

It may be recalled that after the announcement of the imposition of emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent days, reports had emerged of Sohail Afridi and other party leaders being taken into protective custody.