Haq do Tehreek leader arrested by Gwadar Police.
Four days after declaring that he would be going to Gwadar to surrender, Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, the leader of the Haq Do Tehreek (HDT), was arrested by Gwadar police on Friday after showing up at a local court.
A sizable police presence was present at the court today to make the arrest of Rehman on charges related to the murder of a police officer on December 27, 2022 by unidentified assailants during recent HDT rallies.
Constable Yasir was shot in the neck after violence broke out during the rally at Hashmi Chowk, according to police spokesperson Aslam Khan. “He died there and then.” Later, Balochistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langove gave the province’s police the order to file a complaint against Rehman.
On January 2, it was made public that Rehman had been the subject of a police first information report (FIR) on suspicion of murder, attempted murder, inciting riots, and other offences. The FIR, was registered on Dec 30, 2022 and names three other people along with Rehman as responsible for the alleged charges.
It asserts that Rehman “provoked and incited the individuals sitting there (at the protest site) to throw stones at government vehicles,” which reportedly led to various losses including “the shattering of a police officer’s car windows.”
On January 4, other HDT commanders, including Hussain Wadila, Yaqoob Joski, and Sharif Miandad, were detained and transferred from Turbat jail to Quetta for additional questioning. Almost 100 individuals were detained as a result of the violent protests, which had been taking place in the city for almost two months.
Their demands include the cessation of illegal trawling in the waters around Gwadar, the installation of several security checkpoints, and the opening of the Pakistani-Iranian border to trade.
