As crackdown on PTI has intensified and more and more party leaders and workers are facing arrests in the aftermath of May 9 vandalism, a former member of the National Assembly (MNA) belonging to the PTI was stopped from going abroad on Wednesday. Saima Nadeem was offloaded from Toronto-bound plane at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport and was taken to Airport police station where investigators interrogated her.

Saima Nadeem was offloaded from PIA flight PK-503 and taken into custody as her name was on the stop list. Amid the crackdown against PTI leaders and aides, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has reportedly stopped more than 200 suspected leaders and workers from leaving Pakistan. It is pertinent to mention here that more and more PTI leaders, including former MNAs and MPAs, are leaving the party, saying they are aggrieved over attacks on army and government buildings and monuments of martyrs on May 9. Only Tuesday, on May 23, 2023, key party leaders, including Fayyazul Hassan Chohan and Dr Shireen Mazari, left the party.  Besides that a large number of PTI leaders and workers are languishing in prisons as they are facing charges of participating in acts of violence on May 9.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP