ISLAMABAD: Opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday alleged that its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter president Junaid Akbar was briefly detained in Gilgit-Baltistan while campaigning for the upcoming general elections and later ‘expelled’ by local authorities.
In a statement posted on X, PTI said Akbar, along with National Assembly members Salimur Rehman, Amjad Ali Khan, Syed Mehboob Shah, and MPAs Naeem and Dr Nawaz, was stopped at a check post while returning to Gilgit from Ghizer district.
The group was taken to Gilgit following their detention, and the party shared a video showing them inside a vehicle with a uniformed police officer visible.
Akbar said PTI workers had travelled to Ghizer to hold a political rally ahead of the 7 June elections. The delegation was initially informed by the local administration that a permit or no-objection certificate (NOC) was required to continue.
Questioning this requirement, Akbar wrote on X: “Isn’t Gilgit-Baltistan a part of Pakistan? Why does a Pakistani need a no-objection certificate to travel within their own country?”
Later, he was again stopped and instructed to leave Gilgit-Baltistan for not possessing an NOC. PTI claimed he was “expelled” from the region following the incident.
The party accused the federal government of using administrative measures to influence the elections, alleging such actions were aimed at “stealing the election” while rival parties received security and official protocol.
“Our party’s symbol has been snatched from us, we’re not allowed to run election campaigns but are instead arrested (…) we were stopped in Gilgit, arrested, and expelled from the province, while PML-N leaders are provided VIP protocol and full security,” PTI said on X.
The party described the incident as “political revenge”, “pre-poll rigging”, and “an attack on democracy”, calling for a level playing field.
Separately, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi warned on X that if the detained parliamentarians were not released, he would “personally go there” to confront the Gilgit-Baltistan administration.
He criticised the actions as “undemocratic” and said PTI would not allow the region to become a “no-go area”, adding that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan would respond through their votes.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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