An anti-terrorist court in Islamabad has directed the police to implement its orders in relation the arrest warrants of Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehrik chief Tahirul Qadri in the Pakistan Television (PTV) headquarters attack case.
In today’s hearing ATC judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi expressing his displeasure remarked that why the police failed to submit the implementation report, the judge directed authorities to carry out the arrests of Imran Khan, Tahirul Qadri and 68 others by Nov 17 and present them in court on the said date.
Over 70 were booked after a mob of protesters belonging to the PTI and PAT stormed PTV headquarters and forced its staff to take two of the state broadcaster’s flagship channels — PTV News and PTV World — off the air on Sept 1, 2014.
According to eyewitnesses, at the time nearly 400 PTI and PAT workers had stormed the PTV building, across the road from the main entrance to the Pakistan Secretariat. The attack had come soon after demonstrators were repulsed from the secretariat compound.
But the occupying force was dispersed without incident by a contingent of army and Rangers personnel, who arrived on the scene within an hour of the state-TV being taken off-air.