Peshawar police on Friday arrested Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI Peshawar region General Secretary and former provincial minister Kamran Bangash.
Kamran Bangash was taken into custody from his residence in Peshawar’s Chamkani area, where he was reportedly residing, over allegations of causing damage to government properties on May 9.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Peshawar High Court issued a directives to law-enforcement agencies, including the police, to refrain from taking any “unlawful” actions against the family members of Kamran Bangash.
A two-member bench, comprising Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah, issued the directives on a petition filed by Afnan Bangash, the brother of Kamran Bangash. In his plea, Afnan Bangash alleged that the police had been conducting unwarranted raids on their residence and subjecting him and his family to harassment.
On October 9, Kamran Bangash had been granted bail by Special Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Jahangzeb Shinwari.
The circumstances surrounding Bangash’s arrest remain unclear, as he was reportedly moved to an undisclosed location by the police.
The PTI is yet to issue a formal statement on the matter. The motives and developments surrounding Kamran Bangash’s arrest are still shrouded in mystery.
Bangash joined the PTI in 2006 and headed the party’s social media in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 2007 to 2010.
He was elected to the provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a candidate of PTI from Constituency PK-77 (Peshawar-XII) in the 2018 general election.
On August 26, 2018, he was named by the PTI as provincial minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Information Technology.
However, his name was dropped from the cabinet on the day of oath taking ceremony on 29 August. On August 30, he was named as special assistant to former KP chief minister Mahmood Khan on information technology.
On September 14, 2018, he was appointed as special assistant to the chief minister on science and technology and information technology. On July 11, 2020, he was appointed as provincial minister for information and was considered as the best information minister of the decade for the province.
In the same year on September 18, 2020, he was given the responsibility of revamping the ministry of higher education, archives and libraries.
