Pakistan: Sindh police take (PTI Senator) Swati into custody after BHC quashes FIRs

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PTI Senator Azam Swati was taken into custody by Sindh police from Quetta, hours after Balochistan High Court (BHC) quashed all cases registered against him across the province and also ordered his release.

According to Express News, Swati’s lawyer Iqbal Shah confirmed the development saying that the PTI leader was handed over to Sindh police and added that he had been transferred to Sindh through a special plane.

PTI’s Balochistan chapter president Qasim Khan Suri said the party was in process of fulfilling legal formalities to quash the remaining two FIRs against Swati when the Sindh police shifted him to unknown location “after abducting in a special plane”.

Another PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry claimed that Swati was taken to Larkana on the plane of Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

Condemning the treatment being meted out to Swati, Fawad added that the “fake case” against him was registered by Sindh police in Qambar district of the province.

Earlier today, the Sindh High Court (SHC) issued notices to the Sindh government, prosecutor general and the provincial inspector general on a petition related to the registration of six cases against Azam Swati in the province.

The BHC had earlier barred the police from registering any more first information reports (FIRs) against Swati over his controversial tweets and speeches.

Over a week ago, the senator was taken into custody for the second time after a raid at his farmhouse in Chak Shahzad, Islamabad, by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing for allegedly tweeting against senior military officials.

On December 1, a district and sessions court sent the senator to jail on a 14-day judicial remand in the case after which he was transferred from Islamabad airport to Balochistan where he was ultimately taken to Kuchlak.

The PTI senator was arrested for the first time in October by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) cybercrime unit for allegedly making “controversial claims” against state institutions, including the army chief.

Almost 10 days later, a district and sessions court in Islamabad had granted Swati post-arrest bail against a surety bond worth Rs1 million.__Tribune.com