- CM orders arrest of Rana Shoaib Idrees after police and intelligence agencies found him guilty of attacking police station, torturing police officials
- PML-N leadership decides to call for MPA’s resignation to contain political fallout
- Accused MPA trying hard to save his provincial assembly seat
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has decided to call for the resignation of its member of the provincial assembly from PP-55 constituency, Rana Shoaib Idrees after he was found guilty of leading an attack on a police station in Faisalabad, torturing police officials and rescuing suspected criminals from police custody.
Sources in the PML-N said that a senior leader of the party based in Faisalabad had consulted the local leadership and decided that they would recommend the party top brass to ask Idrees to step down from his provincial assembly seat in a bid to contain the fallout of the incident which has earned a bad name for the party.
Meanwhile, sources confirmed that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had also ordered Idrees’s arrest after intelligence agencies’ investigation found him guilty of involvement in the incident. They said that raids were being conducted for the MPA’s arrest but so far the police has not been able to net the accused.
Idrees and his accomplices attacked the Khurianwala Police Station in Faisalabad two days ago to rescue some criminals from custody. They tortured and injured police Sub-Inspector Riyasat Ali and other police officials and damaged official property of the station.
The Khurianwala Police registered a case under various sections of the Anti-Terrorism Act and Pakistan Penal Code against nine identified and 50 unidentified men for taking the law in their own hands, damaging the police station, rioting and injuring policemen. The nine accused have been identified as Zakariya, Muzammal Hussain, Muhammad Shabbir, Muhammad Shafiq, Abu Bakar, Muhammad Asif, Naveed Ahmad and Rana Muhammad Phool. A politician was also nominated in the FIR but his name was not mentioned, ostensibly to avoid political backlash.
Faisalabad City Police Officer Dr Haidar Ashraf constituted a two-member fact finding committee comprising SSP Operation Bilal Umar and Jaranwala SP Arif Shahbaz to identify and ascertain the role of the MPA in the incident. Subsequently, the committee identified Idrees as the key accused in the incident.
On the basis of the reports presented by the fact-finding committee and intelligence agencies, Shahbaz Sharif ordered the Punjab IG Mushtaq Sukhera to arrest Idrees and all other accused without any delay.
Meanwhile, sources told Pakistan Today that MPA Idrees was in contact with several members of the provincial and National Assembly from Faisalabad and trying to convince them to talk to the chief minister on his behalf.
The sources said that this was not the first time the PML-N MPA had attacked police personnel. They claimed that two months ago, Idrees had forcibly entered the same police station waving a pistol in his hand and his accomplices had manhandled some police officials over some issue. The MPA is already a nominated accused in a murder case.