The drama surrounding Capt Safdar unfolded early Monday, just hours after the PDM’s successful rally in Karachi. The police took him into custody from the hotel. He and PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz were staying there. Allegedly, the police broke open the door of the couple’s room. A CCTV footage of Safdar’s arrest has surfaced on the Internet and has gone viral showing cops breaking into his hotel room.
Reportedly, the arrest came after an FIR was filed against him, Maryam, and 200 of their supporters for violating the sanctity of the Quaid-i-Azam’s mausoleum, damaging government property, etc.
According to the complaint, during their visit to the site, Safdar trespassed into the restricted area surrounding the grave. There, he began raising slogans, thereby violating the law prohibiting political activities at the mausoleum.
CCTV footage shows a 46-minute long arrest operation
CCTV footage of the arrest of Safdar has emerged where cops can clearly be seen inside the hotel. It shows that at 6:08 am, two police mobiles entered the private hotel where the PML-N leader was staying.
Then at 6:45 am, the police team landed on the 15th floor, where Maryam and Safdar were saying. In addition to this, the video shows a man in plain clothes and joggers taking instructions from someone on his phone.
In fact, later in the video, he is also seen making a video of the arrest in the lift and lobby of the hotel.
Three minutes later, the footage shows two policemen barging into the room where the PML-N leaders were staying. Moreover, two minutes later, at 6:50 am, it shows Safdar being arrested.
According to the footage that has surfaced, the officials from the Sindh Police carried out a 46-minute operation to arrest the PML-N leader.
Watch the CCTV footage of the arrest below
Soon after the arrest, the Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa took notice of the incident. He asked the Karachi Corps Commander to “immediately inquire into the circumstances to determine the facts as well as report back as soon as possible”, said an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement on the matter of Safdar’s arrest in Karachi.
ISPR’s statement came after PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called on ‘institutions’ to investigate the matter around Safdar’s arrest yesterday.
In the meantime, at least 13 top-ranking officers of the Sindh Police decided to go on leave. They wanted to protest the manner in which the force had been ‘ridiculed’ amidst the arrest of Safdar.
Moreover, Safdar was detained at the Aziz Bhatti police station and was later presented before the local court.
Here’s a video of Safdar inside the courtroom
However, a local court in Karachi on Monday granted bail to Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar. Additionally, it issued his release orders against surety bonds of Rs100,000, hours after his arrest from his hotel room in the metropolis.
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