About five years after he relinquished power, Pakistan’s former military ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, was arrested on Friday by the police from his farmhouse in Islamabad and shifted to police headquarters.
“Pervez Musharraf has been arrested and shifted to police headquarters,” an interior ministry official said. Late on Thursday, Mr Musharraf, who is also the head of the All-Pakistan Muslim League (APML), was placed under house arrest at his farmhouse, which was declared a sub-jail by authorities due to security reasons. On Thursday, the Islamabad high court had rejected his bail applications and ordered his arrest.
According to the police, Gen. Musharraf will appear before the Anti-Terrorism Court judge inside the police headquarters in various cases.
“Pervez Musharraf can be shifted back to his farmhouse as his residence has been declared a sub-jail. We are waiting for the directive,” the official said.
Mr Musharraf, who had fled court on Thursday, surrendered himself before appearing in the court of judicial magistrate Raja Abbas Shah in Islamabad on Friday.
The judge issued a two-day-long transit remand order that also added Clause 780-A, pertaining to terrorism, in the list of charges against the former Army strongman. During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel, advocate Mohammed Bilal Mughal, requested the court for 15 days’ physical remand of the former military ruler, whereas Mr Musharraf’s lawyer, Qamar Afzal, sought judicial remand.