Multan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Mehar Bano Qureshi and several party workers have been arrested in Multan and Muzaffarabad as PTI holds nationwide rallies to observe February 8 as ‘Black Day,’ marking the anniversary of last year’s contentious elections.

In Multan, Qureshi, along with fellow PTI leaders Zahid Bahar Hashmi and Dalir Meher, was detained by police at Pull Chatta for violating Section 144.

More than 10 PTI workers were also arrested while attempting to conduct a rally in the area.

In Muzaffarabad, multiple PTI workers were taken into custody after trying to protest at Azadi Chowk, though some managed to escape.

This crackdown follows the imposition of Section 144 across the province, which prohibits all political assemblies, gatherings, sit-ins, and rallies to “protect human lives and properties and maintain law and order.”

In a related incident, PTI leader Khawaja Farooq evaded police custody when he was mistakenly placed in a worker’s vehicle instead of a police car.

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The driver fled the scene before police could intervene. Farooq, who is also the opposition leader in the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) legislative assembly, was later apprehended, along with 16 others.

The main rally for ‘Black Day’ is scheduled to take place in Swabi, where PTI aims to continue its protests against the allegedly rigged 2024 General Elections.