LAHORE: An AntiTerrorism Court on Tuesday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and three other PTI leaders in two cases related to a protest last year.

Judge Manzer Ali Gill of ATC-I issued the warrants on a police request.

The case investigating officer (IO) stated that on Oct 5, 2024, the PTI held a protest in Lahore during which stones were pelted at police. He said the police needed to summon the suspects, including Mr Gandapur, to complete investigation.However, despite repeated summons, the suspects did not appear even though their bailable arrest warrants had been issued.

The investigation officer stated that the arrest of the suspects was necessary and requested the court to issue their nonbailable arrest warrants.

The judge issued warrants for the arrest of PTI leaders Hammad Azhar, Saeed Sandhu, Shahbaz Ahmed and KP CM Gandapur.

The cases were registered against the PTI leaders at Lorry Adda and Masti Gate police stations.

A number of PTI leaders, including Salman Akram Raja, Awais Younas, Musarrat Jamshed Cheema and Ahmer Rasheed Bhatti were booked in cases related to Oct 5 protests and attacks on police.