Sohail Afridi, KP assembly speaker in preventative custody: police

Sohail Afridi, the chief minister of non-functional Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and a few of his cabinet members are currently under preventative custody, according to police officials. The arrest came shortly after the Centre imposed emergency and governor's rule in the province under specific constitutional articles. Interior Minister Tallal Chaudhry confirmed Afridi's detention, stating that the chief minister and some cabinet members had been taken into preventive custody.

If any of them face charges, they will be prosecuted; others will be released. A senior police officer also verified the detentions, mentioning that eight individuals, including Afridi, MNA Junaid Akbar, and assembly speaker Babar Saleem Swati, were placed under preventative custody. Initially, Afridi's party members were unaware of his whereabouts.

PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram suggested that Afridi's arrest was linked to the federal government's decision to impose emergency and governor's rule, alleging that these actions were politically motivated to weaken the PTI, undermine the elected Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, and disregard the democratic will of the people.

The emergency followed strained relations between the federal government and the PTI-led provincial administration, stemming from disagreements over counterterrorism policy, which led to the breakdown of their October 3 talks. Governor Faisal Karim Kundi now assumes the role of running the province with an 11-member technocratic council formed to aid him, with the council's primary focus on combating terrorism.

The federal government has also authorized deploying Pakistan Army troops and assets to support civil power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.