Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi was sent on a 14-day judicial remand to jail after being arrested a day ago.

He was earlier brought to the court of Duty Magistrate Syed Jahangir Ali in an armored police van.

During the hearing, the prosecutor sought a three-day physical remand of Qureshi. Whereas, Qureshi’s lawyer Ali Bukhari requested the court to discharge his client from the case.

Meanwhile, Qureshi alleged that he was kept in a cold cell last night and was tortured mentally and physically.

On Wednesday, Qureshi was re-arrested by Rawalpindi police from outside Adiala Jail in connection with a case registered regarding the May 9 violence after he was released from the prison in the cipher case.

Police manhandled, pushed, and dragged the former foreign minister towards an armoured personnel carrier (APC) deputed near the prison gate soon after he was released after the Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rawalpindi withdrew an order for detaining him for 15 days under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) as he was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the cipher case.

Background

A case was registered against Imran and the PTI vice chairman under Sections 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act, 1923. It is related to the “misuse” of alleged contents of a diplomatic cipher, cited by ex-premier Imran as proof of the attempt to remove his government.

Last month, the special court indicted Imran and Qureshi in the cipher case. The duo then approached the SC for bail.

It is pertinent to mention that on December 13, a special court established under the Official Secrets Act indicted both of them again in the case.