PESHAWAR (The Thursday Times) — An anti-terrorism court in Peshawar on Wednesday reissued arrest warrants for Sohail Afridi, the suspended chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the case over the May 2023 attack on the Radio Pakistan building, and extended the interim bail of three former provincial ministers until November 17.
Judge Wali Mohammad adjourned the hearing to that date after lawyers for former ministers Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Kamran Bangash, and Irfan Saleem, who appeared in court with their clients, said they were not prepared and asked for more time.
The court first issued warrants for Afridi, the three former ministers, and Aamir Khan Chamkani on October 28, after the prosecution submitted the challan formally naming them as accused.
The case was registered on a complaint by Radio Pakistan. It concerns the storming and burning of the state broadcaster’s Peshawar station on May 9 and 10, 2023, during the violent protests that followed the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan. Attackers broke through the main gate, set fire to the building and vehicles, and destroyed broadcasting equipment.
The station, which went on air in 1935, lost archives holding decades of Pashto and Hindko music, dramas, and speeches in the fire, a loss still felt in regional-language broadcasting.
The prosecution has built its case on video footage and photographs from the day. The court obtained forensic reports from NADRA and the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory to verify the identities of the accused, and Radio Pakistan’s counsel has told the court the analysis places them at the scene.
A forensic laboratory report in January, which examined 16 video clips, identified Afridi, Bangash, Jhagra, and Irfan Saleem in the footage. The same report noted that some of the clips showed signs of editing or splicing.
Afridi has been in preventive custody since October 12, a day after the federal government imposed an emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution. The government cited the law and order situation and a lack of support from the provincial administration in the fight against terrorism.
More than 80 PTI leaders and workers were initially named in cases over the violence at the station. The hearing resumes on November 17.
