ISL AMABAD: Apparently in a move to stop him from attending funeral of party leader Ijaz Satti, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Secretary General Salman Akram Raja was on Thursday arrested in the limits of Nilore Police Station and released after a few hours.
Party’s Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram, while talking to Dawn, said that Salman Raja, along with some other leaders and workers of PTI, was going to attend funeral of Rawalpindi Cantt PTI Senior Vice President Ijaz Satti who died in police custody.
‘While they were passing from the limits of the Nilore Police Station, police had already blocked the road. Some of the vehicles managed to pass the blockade but Salman Raja’s vehicle was stopped and he was shifted to police station,’ he claimed.
Waqas said that the party had tried to contact him but failed. He said that the police was also not willing to divulge the whereabouts of Salman Raja but later released him.
PTI’s core committee member Amir Mughal, while talking to Dawn, said Salman Raja was taken into custody by police while on his way to attend the funeral of Ijaz Satti.
He said party workers were allegedly being stopped from even attending the funeral prayers of those killed, describing the reported detention of Salman Raja as ‘highly regrettable and unacceptable’.
In an official statement, Waqas Akram termed the incident as abduction of PTI Secretary General Barrister Salman Akram Raja, along with other party leaders who were travelling to attend the funeral prayers of senior PTI leader Ijaz Hussain Satti, who died in police custody on Wednesday, terming the incident an alarming disregard for basic human values, constitutional freedoms and the dignity of citizens.
‘A funeral is a moment of grief, humanity and solidarity. Turning a funeral into an occasion for political restrictions, harassment and detention is a deeply troubling abuse of authority,’ Waqas said.
CMKP’s meeting Meanwhile Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa SohailAfridiheld meeting with Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas in Islamabad. They discussed in detail the recent street movement in Punjab, behaviour adopted by Punjab Government, the September 27 long march, and the future political and democratic strategy.