Mahmood Khan Achakzai’s arrest warrant suspended until May 31

The arrest warrant against Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chairman Mahmood Khan Achakzai was suspended on Saturday by a judicial magistrate in Quetta.

A candidate for the presidential election, Achakzai was booked under section 448 (house trespass) and section 447 (criminal trespass) in a First Information Report (FIR) registered at Gwalmandi police station on March 11.

Officials from the local administration and Quetta, as well as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) charged Achakzai with illegal occupation of government land and interference in official duties when his security guard allegedly resisted a team of officials who raided a plot of land opposite Achakzai’s residence.

The guard was taken into custody and was found possessing a firearm without a licence, according to the FIR.

The warrant was issued after the PkMAP chief failed to appear in court on April 22 for a hearing in connection with the FIR.

While issuing the arrest warrant, the judicial magistrate directed police to produce Achakzai before the court on April 27.

In today’s hearing, Judge Kamran Baloch suspended the arrest warrant and adjourned the hearing till May 31.

Achakzai’s defence counsel Advocate Qari Rehmatullah argued that the charges themselves were “brought forward with malice”.

He added that Achakzai was not even present in Quetta during the raid, despite being named in the FIR.

“It is possible that a relative or some other family member near his residence occupied the land, as Mehmood Khan Achakzai spends most of his time in Islamabad for his political activities,” Rehmatullah told the court.

Rehmatullah, who is also the president of the Quetta Bar Association, told Dawn.com that Achakzai intends to approach the Balochistan High Court on Monday to get the FIR dismissed.