KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi waits at the factory check post before heading to Adiala jail.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi is back after being denied permission to meet Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan.
CM Afridi had arrived at Adiala Road on Thursday; however, the Rawalpindi police stopped him from moving to the Gorakhpur checkpost. Afridi’s security team had initially planned a route from Rawalpindi to Adiala prison. The chief minister arrived from the private housing society and was arrested by a large contingent of police following security protocols.
Read: KP jirga calls for creation of provincial finance commission, law enforcement reform
Permission was then granted to Afridi to move from the Gorakhpur checkpoint to the factory checkpoint, located half a kilometer from Adiala jail. Additional police units were deployed to the factory checkpoint and the road was temporarily closed to traffic.
Speaking to reporters at the factory checkpoint near Adiala jail, Afridi described the FIR filed against him as “a clean hit on a no-ball” and said he would seek to have it withdrawn. He urged authorities to do nothing.
Learn more: KP CM banned from meeting Imran again
Afridi said those who kidnapped the two jirga members were “enemies of peace and Pashtun traditions” and that anyone involved in terrorism, regardless of nationality, must be denounced and punished. He called for strict implementation of national policy towards Afghan residents and warned that violations of local customs would have “very serious” consequences.
He also stressed the duty of every Pakistani to respect the national anthem, the flag, the constitution and the rule of law, and said concerns should be heard but should not be used to justify actions that suggest anti-national intent.
This is the sixth consecutive time that CM Afridi has been denied permission to meet Imran, despite court orders issued by the Islamabad High Court.
