Pak: Imran's party leaders Qureshi, Cheema put under 'house arrest'

PAKISTAN: In view of maintaining law and order, prominent Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jamshed Cheema and his wife Musarrat Cheema have been put under house arrest on Wednesday, ARY News reported.

Pakistani news channel ARY News reported that the orders for the house arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party leaders were issued by the Rawalpindi commissioner. They were put on house arrest under Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) section 3.

Apparently, the former Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, PTI leader Jamshed Cheema and his wife Musarrat Jamshed Cheema have been put under house arrest for 15 days.

Earlier on Tuesday, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who is also Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman was rearrested minutes after being released from Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, Pakistan-based Geo News reported. Party leader Musarrat Jamshed Cheema was also rearrested immediately after her release.

Qureshi while speaking outside the jail before his rearrest, emphasised that he was still a part of the PTI and would remain so.

The former minister was then taken away by the police to an unknown location. His statement about remaining in the party came hours after the party's senior vice president Shireen Mazari announced that she was quitting the PTI and leaving politics, according to Geo News.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) earlier on Tuesday ordered Qureshi's release after he submitted an undertaking affirming that he would abstain from creating agitation and inciting workers.

Qureshi was among the top PTI leaders arrested from Islamabad within 24 hours of the outbreak of violent protests by PTI workers following former prime minister Imran Khan's arrest on May 9 in the Al-Qadir Trust case, according to Geo News.

The former foreign minister was arrested by the police in cases of riots and arsons in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.