ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered on Tuesday to release Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party leader Fawad Chaudhry.
Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb presided over the hearing where the PTI leader was presented.
Following the order, the authorities tried to arrest Fawad again as he was leaving the court premises. Video footage showed the PTI leader, clad in a shalwar kameez, getting into a white SUV.
However, he ran back inside the courtroom, and was seen visibly out of breath after evading the arrest attempt.
Fawad was arrested outside the Supreme Court (SC) on May 11, two days after PTI Chairman Imran Khan was also detained.
The party’s statement said the arrest was carried out despite Fawad having been granted protective bail by the Islamabad High Court till May 12.
Meanwhile, the IHC on Tuesday also granted bail to PTI leader Shireen Mazari who was arrested last week under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order.
Pakistan saw a fresh wave of violence last week in the aftermath of Khan’s arrest with protesters ransacking state and private property, prompting the government to deploy army troops in two provinces as well as the federal capital.
At least nine people died in the unrest, police and hospitals said earlier, while hundreds of police officers were injured.
The government made several arrests, which targeted top leadership of Khan’s party – the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) – as well as his supporters with reports suggesting more than 4,000 people have been detained.
Khan, freed on bail, condemned the violence that ensued, but called for protests as he pushed ahead on his call for elections. Talks on holding polls failed earlier.
