Karachi court grants bail to 24 PTI protesters held near press club

KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Monday granted bail to 24 Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf workers and leaders who had been arrested a day earlier after a protest near the Karachi Press Club against the rise in fuel prices linked to the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran.

Judicial Magistrate Abdul Ahad Memon issued the order and allowed bail to the 24 PTI workers and leaders against surety bonds of Rs5,000 each.

The arrests followed clashes between PTI workers and police near the press club on Sunday.

Four leaders sent to jail on judicial remand in separate case

In a separate development, an anti-terrorism court sent four PTI leaders arrested on Sunday to prison on judicial remand in a case related to rioting during a rally at Banaras Chowk on Aug 24, 2025.

PTI counsel Advocate Shujaat Ali Khan said that after detaining the four leaders — Alamgir Khan, Meeraj, Khalid Mehmood and Daawa Khan — police also nominated them in the earlier case registered at the Peerabad police station over the Banaras Chowk rally.

He said police produced them before the administrative judge of the anti-terrorism court and sought their physical remand for interrogation. After hearing the defence side, the judge remanded them to prison in the case.

Police and PTI give differing accounts of protest

On Sunday, Karachi South Deputy Inspector General Syed Asad Raza said around 100 to 150 PTI workers, led by Haleem Adil Shaikh, gathered at Fawara Chowk on Abdullah Haroon Road carrying banners and sticks and tried to move towards the press club.

According to the DIG, police attempted to stop the group and told them that Section 144 had been imposed in the Red Zone by the Sindh government, prohibiting rallies, and asked them to disperse.

He said the protesters then allegedly became violent and attacked police with sticks and stones, after which more personnel were called in. Police later detained several protesters.

Subsequently, a first information report was lodged on behalf of the state on charges including rioting, unlawful assembly and obstructing public servants.

The Artillery Maidan police registered the case under multiple sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, including Section 147 for punishment for rioting, Section 149 for an offence committed by members of an unlawful assembly, Section 186 for obstructing a public servant, and Section 188 for disobedience to an order duly promulgated by a public servant.

PTI leaders, however, contested the police version of events. They said the protest was peaceful and alleged that workers, including women, were subjected to excessive force and arbitrary arrests.