BANNU: Police on Monday took Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Maulana Nasim Ali Shah into custody from his madrassa, Al-Markaz-ul-Islami, in Ghoriwala, Bannu, The Express Tribune reported.
Key points
- A video circulating online purportedly shows police officers taking the lawmaker away
- The same video was shared from the MNA's own X account
- The reasons for the arrest, any cases and his whereabouts have not been officially confirmed
- The arrest comes amid a crackdown on PTI after governor's rule was imposed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
What the video shows
A video circulating on social media purportedly shows police officers leading the lawmaker away. According to the newspaper, the clip was also posted from Nasim Ali Shah's X account.
The circumstances of the arrest, any cases registered against him and his whereabouts after the operation had not been officially confirmed, the report said.
Crackdown after governor's rule
The Express Tribune said the arrest is part of a wider crackdown on PTI leaders and workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the federal government imposed governor's rule and a state of emergency in the province on October 11. Non-functional chief minister Sohail Afridi, PTI provincial president Junaid Akbar and provincial assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati are among those taken into what officials call protective custody.
Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry had confirmed that Afridi and some cabinet members were in preventive custody. Arrests of PTI workers have also been reported in Swabi and Khyber district.
The two positions
The federal government has cited security concerns and what it called the provincial government's disengagement from counterterrorism efforts as the reason for governor's rule. PTI has called the measures unconstitutional and challenged them in the Peshawar High Court. Read the political reaction here.
More on The Express Tribune.