Brother of Chief Minister Afridi goes to court in Pakistan — Dawn
Muhammad Amir, the brother of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, who is currently not performing his duties, has approached the Peshawar High Court to establish the politician’s whereabouts. He also asks that, if Afridi’s detention is confirmed, he be brought before the court to review the lawfulness of his detention, Dawn reports.
Applicant’s demands
Afridi’s brother filed the petition through senior lawyer Bashir Khan Wazir. He demands that police and other officials urgently take lawful measures to locate the politician and submit a full report on his whereabouts, condition and legal status.
Amir claims that on October 11, 2026, at about 2:00 p.m., Afridi was allegedly unlawfully detained at the chief minister’s residence in Peshawar and was later abducted from there by armed masked men. According to the applicant, this happened in the presence of the Peshawar city police chief. These circumstances require verification, the petition states.
The applicant asks for surveillance camera footage, security logs, entry and exit registers, duty schedules and transport data related to the incident to be preserved and lawfully examined. He also demands that a criminal complaint be registered and that a prompt, impartial and effective investigation be conducted into allegations of abduction, disappearance and unlawful detention.
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State of emergency
On October 11, Pakistan’s federal government imposed a state of emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, citing Articles 232 and 234 of the constitution. On the same day, the PTI party reported the abduction of Afridi, several members of his government and party activists.
The following day, officials confirmed that Afridi and some members of his cabinet were being held in preventive detention. The minister of state for interior said that people facing pending cases should be charged and tried, while others should be released.
The introduction of governor’s rule came amid worsening relations between the federal authorities led by PML-N and the PTI government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It also coincided with a PTI march on Islamabad led by Afridi that did not leave the province.
