Court reserves verdict on police's plea for Sheikh Rashid's physical remand

The former minister, who is a close aide of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, was arrested from Murree Motorway, police confirmed this morning, in a move that drew strong criticism from the former premier.

The verdict will be announced at 4:45pm.

At the outset of the hearing at Judicial Magistrate Umar Shabbir's court, the police requested for an eight-day physical remand of Rashid.

Meanwhile, the investigation officer submitted the case records in the court.

The arrest

The police confirmed arresting Rashid from the Murree Road in the wee hours of Thursday.

However, the former interior minister and his nephew, Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, contradicted the police's version and said that the authorities took him into custody from his house in Rawalpindi and not the motorway.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Rawalpindi Division President Raja Inayat Ur Rehman had filed a case against Rashid in Islamabad's Aabpara Police Station for alleging that former president Asif Ali Zardari was hatching a plot to assassinate the PTI chief.

In the FIR, the PPP divisional president stated that the AML chief tried to badmouth a former president and cause a "permanent danger" to the PPP co-chairman and his family.

The FIR

The FIR added that Rashid, with his allegations, wants to cause a fight between the PTI and the PPP and disrupt the country's peace.

The PPP leader added that the AML chief claimed to have vital information regarding a "conspiracy" being hatched to assassinate the PTI chief.

"If that's the case, then the police should take both the leaders into custody under Section 150 and 151 and foil the conspiracy" to stop the spread of unrest in the country, he added.

Three sections — 120B (criminal conspiracy), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) — have been added to the FIR.

Moreover, police told journalists that a bottle of liquor and a weapon has been recovered from Rashid's possession. Police also said that the former interior minister was "intoxicated" when he was arrested.

Initially, the Murree Police had arrested him and later they handed him over to the Islamabad Police, who shifted him to the Aabpara Police Station, where the case has been registered.

Rashid is also embattled in another case of "illegal occupation" as the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) had sealed Lal Haveli — his residence — and five adjoining units on January 30. On the same day, the Lahore High Court ordered to de-seal the property.

The former minister was shifted to the Secretariat police station after his medical checkup at the Polyclinic hospital.