DJ Butt released on bail day after his arrest

A Lahore court on Thursday granted bail to sound system provider DJ Butt, a day after he was arrested on the charges of possessing an illegal weapon and interference in official work.

Butt had been providing a sound system for the rallies of the PML-N in Lahore and elsewhere and had also been hired for the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) Dec 13 rally in the city.

During the hearing today, Butt’s lawyer argued that the case against him was “political” and he was arrested because of the PDM’s Dec 13 rally. “All sections in the case constitute bailable offences,” his counsel said, adding that the arrest was a “very sensitive matter”.

“The case has also been covered in the media and it is false and baseless,” he added.

The judicial magistrate questioned whether a weapon had been recovered by police during the arrest upon which Butt’s lawyer presented the licence for the weapon to the court.

“The government is misusing its power,” he alleged.

The prosecution lawyer, meanwhile, requested the court to grant police remand of Butt. He argued that Butt did not provide the licence to the police and weapons could “not be put on display in any case”. He added that the sections constituted non-bailable offences.

However, the court rejected the request for remand and approved Butt’s release on bail after furnishing bonds of Rs50,000.

Speaking outside the court, Butt said he was a “tiger” of Prime Minister Imran Khan in the past and would remain so in the future. He decried “police torture” and said he was sleeping when the “police dragged me outside and strangled me”.

“My entire body is injured,” he said. “I was wronged more this time than I was the last time. They tortured me previously as well but they also cursed me, insulted my mother and sisters, I cannot bear that.

“My mother is old, what is her condition right now?” he asked.

According to the first information report (FIR), police raided the office of DJ Butt in Model Town and registered a case for possessing an illegal weapon and interference in official work by manhandling the raiding team members.

Police also allegedly manhandled a couple of reporters who reached the Model Town police station to get the FIR copy. The reporters were recording Butt’s comments at the police station when policemen manhandled them and tried to snatch their mobile phones.

During the last PML-N regime, Butt was arrested for being the sound system provider of the PTI political gathering. That time PTI chairman Imran Khan had strongly condemned his arrest. Now PML-N has condemned his arrest.

“Imran Khan is a small man who is targeting the caterers and sound-system providers like DJ Butt to create hurdles in the PDM rally on Dec 13,” PML-N Punjab information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb said.