Hunt on for Khadija Shah in May 9 riots case

ISLAMABAD: The army authorities have given stern orders of “no mercy” towards anyone connected to the attacks on the military installations and national symbols on May 9 by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTI) activists.

The Punjab police have launched a massive operation, detaining hundreds of PTI activists suspected of involvement in the attacks on defence installations. However, the search for Khadija Shah, the granddaughter of former army chief late Asif Nawaz is going on. She continues to evade arrest.

Shah, a prime suspect in the case is eluding authorities, even as her husband, Jehanzeb Amin, has been taken into police custody, said a report. Dr Salman Shah, the former finance minister, was briefly arrested before being freed.

Amin was not only wanted in connection with the defence installations attacks but is also a proclaimed offender in a separate case involving a bogus cheque worth Rs8.3 million.

His current predicament presents an uncomfortable situation, as his freedom is contingent upon the arrest of his wife. Failure to apprehend Shah would result in Amin’s imprisonment in the bogus cheque case, according to officials familiar with the ongoing developments. It is likely that his swift cooperation upon initial arrest was driven by this impending consequence.

Acting on a tip-off from Amin, the police conducted a raid on an apartment in Gulberg Lahore, but Shah managed to escape just minutes before the raiding party’s arrival. Leaked CCTV footage captured her fleeing the building through the basement parking area.

The apartment where she had been hiding belongs to Mehar Tareen, the daughter of Jahangir Tareen, a former influential leader of the PTI and her husband, Umar Sheikh. Although present during the raid, the Tareen couple’s attempts to assist Shah proved futile.

Awn Chaudhry, a special assistant to the prime minister, and a close confidante of Jahangir Tareen, made unsuccessful efforts to intervene with the police on her behalf.