Former MNA and PTM (Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement) leader Ali Wazir was arrested in Dera Ismail Khan. He was arrested while he was coming to Dera from Quetta in a private car by the Daraban police.
According to the sources, PTM leader Ali Wazir was arrested near the Darazinda tribal subdivision. When contacted, Daraban SHO denied having arrested Mr. Wazir.
However, the sources said the former MNA was currently in the custody of Daraban police.
It should be noted that several cases have been registered against Mr. Wazir in different police stations, pertaining to making speeches against state institutions and incendiary statements.
Meanwhile, responding to the arrest, PTM chairman Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen said Mr. Wazir was in the custody of DI Khan police, but they were denying his arrest.
Pashten added, “There is no FIR registered against Ali Wazir in Dera, and he has also obtained protective bail from the Peshawar High Court for the rest of the FIRs registered against him.”
Earlier this year, the PTM leader was released from Karachi jail in February after being imprisoned for more than two years. He has been under arrest since December 2020 in several sedition cases. The then MNA from South Waziristan’s NA-50, Ali Wazir and 10 other accused were arrested over an anti-state speech in Karachi.
The Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) is subsequently facing a sustained campaign of intimidation, censorship and arrests. The movement always advocated for the rights of ethnic Pashtuns affected by Pakistan’s war against the Taliban in its northwest. PTM was formed in 2016 by a group of eight university students in the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan. All eight hail from the neighboring district of South Waziristan.
