After the imposition of an emergency in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has claimed that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has been arrested and moved to an unknown location, while other senior party leaders have also been taken into custody.
According to PTI deputy information secretary Ikram Khatana, those arrested include provincial president Junaid Akbar, provincial assembly speaker Babar Saleem Swati and member of the National Assembly Shahid Khattak.
He said the imposition of governor’s rule and an emergency in the province is an attack on the mandate of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and that the arrest of elected public representatives is condemnable. He said party workers would soon be on the streets, as the provincial president has already issued instructions in this regard.
A high-level meeting chaired by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi was held to review the law and order and security situation in the province, attended by senior officials of the security agencies and the provincial administration.
The meeting was attended by home affairs adviser Kifayatullah Khan, Chief Secretary Dr Muhammad Fakhr Alam Irfan, Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed, Additional Chief Secretary Home Amjad Ali Khan, Additional IG Special Branch Muhammad Kashif Alam, the Additional IG CTD, CCPO Dr Mian Saeed, IB Joint Director General Arshad Ali Khan and other relevant officials.
During the meeting, the governor was given a detailed briefing on law and order, counter-terrorism measures and the overall security situation in the province. In view of the current situation, it was decided that educational institutions across the province would remain closed today.
The meeting also decided that the containers placed in Peshawar would be removed in phases, while internet service would also be partially restored as needed so that daily life can gradually return to normal.
Addressing the meeting, Faisal Karim Kundi praised the role of the administration and police, saying it was welcome that no major untoward incident had occurred despite the current situation.
He said eliminating terrorism is the provincial government’s top priority, and to this end the capabilities of the police and the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) will be further increased to ensure law and order.
Meanwhile, after the imposition of governor’s rule and the emergency, large-scale transfers have also begun in the provincial bureaucracy and police. According to sources, more than a dozen deputy commissioners have been transferred and directed to report to the Human Resource Management Department.
The officers affected by the transfers include Wasif Rehman (Mardan), Tariqullah (Swabi), Maqbool Hussain (Chitral Lower), Manzoor Afridi (Dir Upper), Abdullah Shah (Shangla), Fayyaz Sherpao (Malakand), Saleem Jan (Swat), Sohail Ahmed (Upper Swat), Muhammad Shoaib (Battagram), Khalid Iqbal (Mansehra), Sarmad Saleem (Abbottabad), Islahuddin (Haripur), Captain Sanaullah (Peshawar), Fazal Rahim (Charsadda), Muhammad Faheem (Bannu), Hameedullah (Lakki Marwat) and Asad Sarwar (Karak).
The government has also appointed new deputy commissioners in several districts. Shah Saud has been appointed deputy commissioner of Mardan, Nasrullah of Swabi, Waseem Ahmed of Haripur, Ehsanullah of Chitral Lower, Arif Khan of Malakand, Dilnawaz Khan of Dir Upper, Shehryar Qamar of Upper Swat, Gohar Ali of Battagram, Yasir Ali of Mansehra, Mian Behzad Adil of Abbottabad, Shahid Rafiq of Lakki Marwat, Mansoor Arshad of Charsadda, Afaq Wazir of Peshawar, Ziaur Rehman of Bannu and Adnan Abrar of Swat.
