PESHAWAR (The Thursday Times) — An anti-terrorism court in Peshawar on Wednesday issued arrest warrants for suspended Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi and four other PTI figures over the attack on and burning of the Radio Pakistan building during the May 9, 2023 riots.
The warrants also name former provincial ministers Taimur Saleem Jhagra and Kamran Khan Bangash, PTI Peshawar president Irfan Saleem and party activist Amir Khan Chamkani, The Express Tribune reported. Judge Wali Muhammad Khan said warrants were required by law once the prosecution had submitted its charge sheet naming the five as accused. The hearing was adjourned until November 4.
Forensics from video footage
Radio Pakistan’s lawyer, Shabbir Hussain Gigyani, told the court that footage of the attack had been checked by NADRA and the Punjab Forensic Science Agency to identify those who appeared in it, and the prosecution said the analysis placed the accused at the scene. More than 80 suspects were nominated in the case, of whom five have now been charged, Gigyani said, complaining that the charge sheet had been held back for nearly six months after the police investigation ended. The defence asked for more time.
A chief minister already sidelined
Afridi, elected chief minister in October 2025 after his predecessor resigned on Imran Khan’s orders, was sidelined when President Asif Ali Zardari imposed an emergency and governor’s rule in the province on October 11, suspending the PTI-led government. Officials said at the time that he had been placed in protective custody. On Wednesday, a federal minister told the National Assembly that governor’s rule would end after six months while the emergency stays in place.
The Radio Pakistan building was ransacked and set on fire on May 9 and 10, 2023, during nationwide protests by PTI supporters after Imran Khan’s arrest. The state has since prosecuted hundreds of party workers and leaders over the riots; PTI’s Hammad Azhar was sent to jail on Tuesday in a related case in Lahore.
