Fawad Chaudhry remanded in police custody for two days

FOOLS_NIGHTMARE · Nov 6, 2023

An Islamabad court on Sunday granted police two-day physical remand of former PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry a day after he was arrested.

Fawad was brought to an Islamabad district and sessions court in an armoured vehicle amid tight security. Footage aired on television showed the former minister handcuffed while his face was covered with a piece of cloth.

Fawad was taken to an undisclosed location on Saturday after police raided his residence in Islamabad, police sources told Dawn. His family had claimed he was “abducted from his house in Islamabad by officials in plainclothes when he was having breakfast”.

According to the first information report, Fawad was arrested in connection with a case registered at the Aabpara police station on August 22, 2022, under sections 109 (punishment of abetment if the Act abetted committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 341(punishment for wrongful restraint), and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Besides Fawad, AML chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, PTI leaders Murad Saeed, Faisal Javaid Khan, Asad Umer, Raja Khurram Nawaz, Ali Nawaz Khan, Faisal Vawda, Shahzad Wasim, Sadaqat Ali Abbasi, Shibli Faraz, Saifullah Khan Niazi, Shehryar Afridi, Fiazul Hassan Chohan, Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Asad Qaiser, Zahir Abbas Khokhar, Ghulam Sarwar Khan and over 1,000 unidentified people were also booked in the FIR.

During today’s hearing, Fawad’s brother and his wife Hiba Chaudhry were also present in court. At the outset of the hearing, Fawad requested Duty Magistrate Abbas Shah for permission to meet his lawyer, which was granted.

During the hearing, the police contended that Fawad was arrested in a FIR lodged by a citizen namely Zaheer and read it out loud in the courtroom.

The investigating officer said Fawad, during his tenure as federal minister, had promised Zaheer a job in return for Rs0.5 million but never hired him. “When the complainant asked for his money back, Fawad threatened him,” he added.

For his part, Fawad told the judge that he was a former federal minister and a serving Supreme Court lawyer. He also requested access to a doctor citing health issues.

“The person named Zaheer is so lazy that he could not even come to court,” he added. After hearing the arguments, the court granted police two-day remand of Fawad.

Fawad was one of many PTI leaders who had left the party following violence in the country on May 9, when chief Imran Khan was arrested from the Islamabad High Court premises.

Although Fawad had said at the time that he was “taking a break from politics”, he was seen at the launch ceremony of the Jahangir Khan Tareen-led Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) in June.

However, Fawad has kept quiet on whether he is officially a part of the IPP — which has been joined by several PTI leaders in the aftermath on May 9.