Sohail Afridi is the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in north-western Pakistan. He is an important leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of the jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.
On Sunday Pakistan’s federal government dissolved the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. A state of emergency has been declared, along with governor’s rule. The PTI alleges that police have detained Sohail Afridi. The chief minister who has just lost power cannot be traced, however.
The PTI later strongly criticised the “detention” of Sohail Afridi and other party leaders in a statement. It called this “political vengeance” and “an attempt to weaken the province’s elected leadership and democratic institutions”.
PTI spokesman Sheikh Waqas Akram was quoted as saying the “detention” of Sohail Afridi cannot be seen as an isolated incident apart from the federal government’s decision to impose a state of emergency and governor’s rule.
“This sequence of events reflects a wider attempt to bypass elected institutions and undermine the province’s constitutional authority,” Sheikh Waqas Akram said in the statement. He demanded the “swift and unconditional” release of everyone “detained”, Sohail Afridi among them.
In a video clip on the PTI’s official X account, the party’s secretary general, Salman Akram Raja, said: “We know nothing of where Sohail Afridi is or in what condition he is being held. There is no trace of Junaid Akbar either.”
Asked about it, Pakistan’s interior minister, Talal Chaudhry, said: “Several people have been detained in view of the law and order situation.” He did not say whether Sohail Afridi is among them.
Talal Chaudhry said those who have no previous criminal record and are not “wanted” will be released.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report