Journalist Siddique Jan remanded in police custody for one day in Judicial Complex violence case.

An Islamabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Tuesday granted police one-day physical remand of Siddique Jan, a journalist affiliated with Bol News, who was apprehended last night in connection with the violence and rioting that erupted outside the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) when former premier Imran Khan attended a hearing related to the Toshakhana case.

Hours-long clashes were reported between PTI workers and the capital police on Saturday after the former prime minister arrived at the FJC to attend a hearing in the Toshakhana case.

Jan, the Islamabad bureau chief of Bol News television channel, was picked up from his office by the police yesterday and taken away in a private vehicle to an undisclosed location.

A police officer told Dawn yesterday that a case was likely to be registered against him upon the instructions of a senior officer. Jan's arrest comes after a video was shared on social media purportedly from the same day clashes took place at the FJC.

Islamabad police said on Tuesday that Jan had been arrested in connection with a case filed at the CTD Police Station regarding the FJC 'arson and siege'.

'Siddique Jan will be presented in court in time,' the ICT said in a tweet, without specifying the timeframe.

ATC hearing

Later in the day, police presented Jan in an Islamabad ATC where Judge Jawad Abbas presided over the hearing. At the outset of today's proceedings, the investigating officer (IO) requested the court to grant police 10-day physical remand of Jan.

'There is a video where he can be seen stopping a policeman,' the IO said, adding that officials also had to conduct 'a photo grammatic test and recover shells'.

He also read out the first information report (FIR) registered against Jan.

Judge Abbas asked on what basis police were requesting 10-day remand of the journalist. At this, the prosecutor said Jan stopped police personnel from carrying out their official duty.

'The police officer in the video is an employee of the Islamabad police,' the IO said. 'Jan stopped the police from firing a (teargas) shell'.

Presenting his arguments, Jan's lawyer Advocate Mian Ali Ashfaq said the charges were bailable. 'My client's case doesn't merit Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act,' he contended.

Ashfaq said his client's name was not mentioned anywhere in the FIR. 'He (Jan) was 50m away from the judicial complex at a plaza,' the lawyer said. 'If what can be seen in the video is a crime, it's a moment of shame for the state'.

...