‘Physically and mentally tortured’ in prison last night, Qureshi tells court

RAWALPINDI (INP): PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was manhandled and re-arrested outside the Adiala Jail a day earlier, told a Rawalpindi court on Thursday that he was “physically and mentally tortured” in prison last night.

The PTI leader said this while recording his statement during a hearing at the Rawalpindi Judicial Complex.

Qureshi was released from Adiala Jail on Wednesday after the Supreme Court had approved his post-arrest bail in the cipher case. However, the PTI leader, who tried to talk to the Punjab police on multiple occasions, was pushed and whisked away from the prison.

It was later found out that the former foreign minister was arrested in connection with a case pertaining to the attack on the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on May 9. He was initially moved to the Cantt police station by the police, who maltreated him.

Today, Qureshi was brought to the court of Duty Magistrate Syed Jahangir Ali in an armoured police van. A video shared by the PTI on social media showed policemen escorting a hand-cuffed Qureshi.

Speaking to media persons ahead of the hearing, the PTI leader’s daughter Meher Bano Qureshi expressed displeasure at the security arrangement made outside the court. “It seems as if they are presenting a terrorist,” she said.