On Monday, Karachi police arrested two Pakistan Tehreeki-Insaf (PTI) Members of Parliament (MPAs) and others on charges of rioting outside and forcibly entering the apartment of their party’s dissident MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani in the city’s Bath Island neighbourhood.
On behalf of the state, Sub-Inspector (SI) Fatah Mohammed filed a first information report (FIR) against PTI members, including the pair of legislators.
The FIR was filed under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting while armed with a deadly weapon), 149 (an unlawful assembly guilty of an offence committed in the pursuit of a common object), 457 (lurking house-trespass or house-breaking at night in order to commit an offence punishable by imprisonment), 506-B (criminal intimidation), 353 (use of assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from performing his duty), 186 (obstruct
According to the FIR, a police party was patrolling the area near the Government Officers Residences in Bath Island on Sunday night when they received information that PTI MPAs Shah Nawaz Jadoon and Saeed Ahmed, along with 50 to 60 armed individuals, had forcibly entered Vankwani’s Bath Island apartment.
Additionally, they chanted ‘lota, lota’ (turncoat) slogans outside the MNA’s residence, the FIR stated.
According to the report, despite police attempts to disperse the PTI members, they continued to chant slogans against Vankwani and use harsh language toward him.
They “forcibly” entered Vankwani’s apartment and threatened to physically remove him, according to the FIR. According to the complainant’s testimony, they informed Vankwani that he and his family would not be spared if he voted against Prime Minister Imran Khan’s no-confidence motion.
According to the complainant, top police officers were informed of the occurrence and more officers were dispatched to the scene.
Vankwani is one of several dissident PTI legislators who came forward last week amid shifting alliances and escalating tensions on Pakistan’s political scene ahead of a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He and five other PTI MNAs were discovered last Thursday at Islamabad’s Sindh House, which the government alleges has become a centre for horse-trading.
Vankwani informed DawnNewsTV that two individuals from the PTI had recently visited the Parliament Lodges and accused him of “becoming a traitor to the party” and even threatened to vandalize his automobiles.
“Then, through a third party, I approached Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and informed him that I desired a room in Sindh House. Murad Ali Shah stated that all rooms were reserved, but I informed him that my issue was legitimate, “As he had stated.
The MNA further alleged that a number of his fellow PTI MPs currently residing in Sindh House intended to defect to other parties. At the same time, three federal ministers had already done so.