LAHORE MIRROR — An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad has ordered the passports of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and 23 other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers to be blocked until further orders.
Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Abual Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain issued the order on a police request in a case registered at Kohsar police station, seeking the blocking of the passports of the accused.
The court ordered that the passports of Asad Qaiser, Shehram Khan Tarkai, Shah Ahmad, Sher Ali Arbab, Muhammad Iqbal Afridi and Dr Amjad Ali be blocked.
The list also includes Junaid Akbar, Shahid Khattak, Zubair Wazir, Omar Ayub, Arshad Umarzai, Zar Alam, Mian Umar and Akhtar Khan.
The passports of Humayun Khan, Riaz Khan, Abdul Kabir Khan, Tufail Anjum, Asif Mehsud, Ajab Gul, Muhammad Usman and Babar Saleem Swati have also been ordered to be blocked.
Irfan Saleem, Advocate Ali Zaman and Malik Shahab are among the other accused whose passports are covered by the order.
The court observed that the available record showed that the accused had been nominated in the case. According to the investigating officer, they could flee the country to evade legal proceedings.
The court said the accused faced serious allegations, including attacks on state institutions and promoting terrorism, and had also failed to appear before the court.
It further noted that those who had obtained interim bail had also failed to join the investigation.
The court accepted the investigating officer’s request and directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to block the accused persons’ passports until further orders.
