Inspector General Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Nasir Durrani on Monday said that the FIR [First Information Report] against Awami National Party Central General Secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain to “evacuate and protect him” from the clutches of the charged activists, as the father of the murdered Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporter said that he had been forced by ‘enraged mobs’ to nominate Iftikhar in the murder case of his son.
Talking to private news channel Dawn News, the KP police chief said that Iftikhar was under mob charge during clashes between ANP and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf activists following the local bodies elections in KP. He said the FIR which booked Mian Iftikhar under Section 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code was filed after pressure from the mob outside the ANP leader’s Pabbi residence in the Nowshera district increased.
Earlier on Monday, Sher Alam, the father of slain PTI activist Habibullah, told a judicial magistrate that he had filed an FIR against Iftikhar under duress by “enraged protesters”.
“People put pressure on me. Neither Mian Iftikhar nor his guards murdered my son,” Alam told Nowshera Judicial Magistrate Sheraz Tariq in court, adding that he was overcome by emotions at the time.
Accused Mian Iftikhar said in court he “could never think of killing anyone”. “It would have been like killing my own son,” he said. He also said he would do his best to bring Habibullah’s murderer to justice.
The court ordered a judicial lockup for Mian Iftikhar following the hearing. The ANP leader will remain in jail until he is granted bail. A bail hearing will take place on Tuesday (today).
Mian Iftikhar was arrested on Sunday after the killing of a PTI activist in the Pabbi area of KP’s Nowshera district. The killing took place following a clash between ANP and PTI activists near his Pabbi residence on Saturday night after the announcement of the area’s results of the local government polls held the same day.
The PTI activist died of gunshot wounds sustained during the clash. A case was registered against the veteran ANP leader and his guards on various charges, including murder and attempted murder over the complaint of the deceased’s father.
PTI Chairman Imran Khan during a press conference on Sunday had said that Mian Iftikhar’s arrest was not politically motivated.
The PTI chairman said the KP police was not under political influence, and that no one in the provincial government had ordered Mian Iftikhar’s arrest.
Khan said the police had acted on its own in accordance with the law, and “whatever their investigation concludes, we will accept that”.