Despite getting bail in Cipher case, Shah Mahmood Qureshi remains in Jail. Here's why

Rawalpindi: A day after Pakistan's former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was released and arrested all over again, a Rawalpindi court on Thursday rejected the Punjab police's plea that sought the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Vice Chairman's custody. However, Qureshi could not breathe a sigh of relief after he was sent to jail on a judicial remand in a fresh case linked to the May 9 riots, Dawn reported. The riot-like situation that broke out in Pakistan following the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir case left Pakistan's law and order in complete shambles. 

According to the Pakistani news outlet, the judgement from the court came a day after Qureshi was manhandled and re-arrested outside Adiala Jail in connection with an attack on the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on May 9. In the Thursday hearing, the former Foreign Minister was presented before the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Syed Jahangir Ali. In a video shared by Qureshi's party, the veteran politician can be seen getting escorted by policemen in a hand-cuff. In another video shared by PTI, after the hearing, Qureshi was seen lifting his hands to pose for a victory sign as he was being taken away by the police.

I was ‘tortured’: Qureshi

During the Thursday hearing, Qureshi told the court that he was “tortured” by the authorities in the Adiala jail last night. He accused the authorities of “punching and kicking him” when he was in jail. During the hearing, Qureshi noted that the apex court had granted him bail but before he could obtain his release order, he was detained all over again. The former Foreign Minister remarked that he was detained from the  Adiala jail illegally and police officials had kicked and ridiculed him, The Express Tribune reported. “How am I a threat to the public? I have been in jail for several months,” Qureshi remarked. “A team came to me saying that they wanted to record a statement on the May 9 violence. These people want to nominate me in cases related to May 9. I was in Karachi on May 9 … my wife was undergoing surgery (that day)," he added. The PTI leader also mentioned that he was kept in a cold cell last night and wasn't allowed to sleep properly. “I was tortured mentally and physically,” he concluded.