On Friday, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry announced that Azhar Mashwani, a social media activist for the party, had been transported from Lahore to Islamabad. Mashwani was apprehended on Thursday, allegedly for criticizing the Punjab police and caretaker government for their purported use of high-handed tactics against PTI workers. PTI Chief Imran Khan responded to the arrest by accusing authorities of abducting Mashwani and declaring “enough is enough.” He also vowed to send pictures of all officials involved in the crackdown to international human rights organizations to aid in the identification of those “indulging in abductions, illegal break-ins into homes, custodial torture and violence against political leaders and unarmed workers of PTI.”
Speaking with Dawn.com, Chaudhry stated that the party was tracking Mashwani's whereabouts. Mashwani was initially located at the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) office in Bedian, after which he was transferred to Islamabad. Chaudhry explained that the PTI attempted to register a first information report (FIR) for Mashwani's alleged abduction but officials refused to do so. According to Chaudhry, the police were being pressured not to file an FIR against the PTI activist's unlawful abduction. The party has also filed a habeas corpus petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) seeking Mashwani's recovery. The case is scheduled for hearing at the LHC Rawalpindi bench on March 27th after the registrar's office raised an objection.
In a separate development, Mashwani's wife Mahnoor wrote a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, urging him “to take appropriate action against the abduction” of her husband. The letter called on CJP Bandial to take suo motu notice of the incident for the “recovery and release” of Mashwani “from the illegal and unlawful custody of powerful people” and highlighted the severe human rights violations that the country has faced since the current government came into power. The letter further stated that Mashwani had been working as a focal person for the PTI Chief, and that people in the incumbent federal and provincial government did not seem pleased with him due to his responsibilities. According to the letter, Mashwani left home for Zaman Park around 2:45 pm on Thursday and did not return, leading his family, close friends, and party workers to conduct a thorough search to no avail. His wife stated that she believed her husband was "abducted and being detained illegally and unlawfully by the Punjab police in connivance with the FIA and other law enforcement agencies at the behest of some powerful people with the intention to harm him and the entire family,
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