GUJAR KHAN/ ATTOCK  -  As many as 85 under-trial prisoners, including two MPAs, who were detained by the Islamabad police during the protests at D-Chowk on October 5, were set free from the District Jail Attock,  All were released last night under cover of darkness to avoid any untoward incidents.

According to sources, those released included two KP Assembly MPAs, Anwarzeb and Liaqat Khan, 46 rescue personnel, 25 KP police officers, and 13 municipal committee employees. They were all set free on the orders of Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Abdul Hasnat Muhammad Zulqarnain. Surprising scenes were witnessed on the occasion as all those released from the district jail ran towards their vehicles immediately after exiting the main gate, apparently out of fear of rearrest.

According to the sources from Attock Jail, more than 200 PTI activists are still kept in the jail, awaiting their release orders.

Meanwhile, release orders for more than 400 PTI activists, who were also detained by the Islamabad police in the same case, were received by Jhelum District Jail on Friday, and their release was being processed, sources confirmed to The Nation. According to the details, more than 500 protestors arrested in Islamabad, including Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan, the sisters of PTI founder Imran Khan, were transferred to Jhelum Jail from Rawalpindi’s Adiyala Jail.

The Jhelum Jail reportedly received release orders for approximately 400 PTI activists on Friday, following a decision by Islamabad’s Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) to grant bail to those detained on judicial remand in Jhelum.  According to District Police Officer (DPO) Jhelum, Nasir Mahmood Bajwa, security had been beefed up outside the jail to ensure the maintenance of law and order as relatives of the prisoners assembled to greet them.

Another police officer, who was present outside the jail, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the authorities at the jail had received release orders for approximately 400 PTI workers. However, by 11pm on Friday night, only 100 were released, he confirmed, adding that more prisoners were being released in small groups.

Attempts to reach Jhelum Jail Superintendent, Syed Hassan Mujtaba, were met with challenges as the phone operator indicated that officials were occupied with the release process, and he was unaware of the details.  Last week, Imran Khan’s sisters Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan were released from Jhelum District Jail in connection with the same case. It is also pertinent to mention that no key leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) reached Jhelum Jail to receive the released party workers.