Sindh opposition leader arrested again, freed by court within 24 hrs

Karachi: Leader of Opposition in Sindh Assembly, Haleem Adil Sheikh, was arrested again over a decades-old case concerning allegations of illegal possession of government land in Karachi.

It is the third time that the opposition leader belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was arrested since last year and his second arrest this month.

Earlier this month, he was arrested from a hotel in Lahore and after remaining detained for nearly 18 hours he was freed on the orders of the Lahore High Court.

Sheikh went to the office of the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) of the Sindh government in District Jamshoro to join an investigation pertaining to the earlier case lodged against him that became the basis of his arrest from Lahore. The earlier case is also based on the allegation of illegal occupation and misuse of state land in Jamshoro.

During his appearance at the ACE’s office in Jamshoro, Sheikh was informed that he was being arrested for his involvement in another case pertaining to the unauthorised occupation of the government land in District Malir of Karachi.

After his arrest by the ACE, Sheikh was shifted to Karachi and lodged at Aziz Bhatti Police Station. A large number of activists of the PTI gathered in Jamshoro to show solidarity with the Opposition Leader under arrest.

In his video message after his arrest, the Opposition Leader said that he was being constantly victimised by the rulers in Sindh as he had been vocal about their bad governance.

Sheikh said that he would remain loyal to PTI Chairman, Imran Khan, no matter how many false cases were lodged against him in Sindh.

In her video message, Ayesha Haleem, daughter of the Opposition Leader, lamented that her father had been arrested again when he was a law-abiding citizen who appeared before the investigation officials to respond to their allegations.

She said the allegation against her father dated back to 1991 while the criminal case had been registered all of a sudden by the Sindh government solely to victimise the Opposition Leader on political grounds.

The lawmakers of PTI in the Sindh Assembly also protested during the session against the latest arrest of the Opposition Leader.

Later on Thursday, the Opposition Leader was produced before an anti-corruption court in Karachi. Sheikh was brought to the court in an armoured personnel carrier of the police.

The court after conducting the hearing ordered to dismiss the case and immediately free Sheikh. Sheikh’s latest imprisonment lasted for 24 hours.