KARACHI; A Karachi anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday granted a four-day physical remand of Chanesar Town Municipal Corporation (TMC) Chairman Farhan Ghani in connection with the alleged assault of a government employee.
Farhan, the brother of Sindh Local Government Minister and PPP leader Saeed Ghani, had been arrested on Sunday in a terrorism and attempted murder case. He is accused of attacking a government employee who was supervising fibre optic network work along Sharea Faisal.
Farhan, along with his associates Shakeel and Qamar Ahmed, was presented before the ATC after completing one day in police custody. The investigation officer (IO) informed the court that the suspects had beaten the complainant while fibre optic cables were being laid.
Farhan, who appeared without a lawyer, denied the allegations. He claimed he had been falsely accused and was only passing by. As TMC chairman, he argued he had the right to question why the area was being dug up. He added that when he asked the workers for a valid permission certificate, they failed to show one, and that it was his duty to stop anything illegal.
When asked about the arrest, the IO said the suspects had surrendered themselves voluntarily. The police sought 14-day custody for further investigation, but the court approved only a four-day remand, ordering the IO to present a progress report at the next hearing scheduled for August 28.
The case was initiated after a complaint by Hafiz Sohail Jadoon, who lodged an FIR at the Ferozabad police station late Saturday night. According to the FIR, at about 4:47 pm on August 22, around 20 to 25 men, including Farhan, arrived at the site in three vehicles and questioned whether the digging had official approval.
Jadoon stated that despite assuring them that he had all the necessary permissions, the group misbehaved and ordered him to stop work. When he insisted that no-objection certificates were in place, they allegedly abused and attacked him. He further claimed the men dragged him at gunpoint into a nearby fuel station room, where they held him in illegal confinement and continued to assault him.
Police later reached the spot, rescued Jadoon, and took him to the police station where he registered the FIR.
