LAHORE: Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) Chief Hafiz Saad Hussain Rizvi was released from Kot Lakhpat Jail on Thursday.

TLP spokesperson Mufti Abid confirmed the development and told that Rizvi had reached the party’s headquarters Rehmatul Lil Alameen Mosque, after his release.

An urs to commemorate the death anniversary of TLP chief’s father and the group’s founder, Khadim Hussain Rizvi, will be held at the mosque today (Friday).

Rizvi was released after the withdrawal of a reference filed in the Supreme Court’s federal review board regarding his detention and the removal of his name from the Fourth Schedule list of proscribed individuals who are suspected of terrorism or sectarianism under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997.

Govt removes name of TLP chief Saad Rizvi from Fourth Schedule

A notification issued by the Punjab Home Department dated November 10 stated that the “name of Hafiz Mohammad Saad, being Ameer of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan, a proscribed organisation, was listed in the Fourth Schedule of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, under Section 11-E on the recommendations of District Intelligence Committee, Lahore.”

Police had arrested Rizvi on April 12 this year ahead of planned protests by the TLP. The next day police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the TLP chief under sections of the ATA.

It may be mentioned here that Rizvi was detained by the Punjab government for Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).

TLP ends Wazirabad sit-in after half of its demands fulfilled by govt

He was initially detained for three months and then again under the Anti-Terrorist Act on July 10. His name was placed on the Fourth Schedule on April 16.

The government had declared the TLP a proscribed outfit under the anti-terror law in April this year, after three days of violent protests by the group’s activists across the country.

Rizvi was released after days of protest by the TLP and an agreement with the government last month.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021