Peshawar anti-terrorism court reissues warrants for suspended chief minister
Judge Wali Mohammad extended the interim bail of three former provincial ministers until November 17 in the 2023 Radio Pakistan attack case.
PESHAWAR: An anti-terrorism court in Peshawar reissued arrest warrants on Wednesday for suspended Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi in the case of the May 9, 2023 attack on the Radio Pakistan building in the city, and extended the interim bail of three former provincial ministers until November 17.
Judge Wali Mohammad granted the extension to Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Kamran Bangash and Irfan Saleem after their lawyers asked for more time to prepare and sought an adjournment, according to Minute Mirror. Proceedings will resume on November 17.
Radio Pakistan filed the complaint, naming Afridi, the three former ministers and Aamir Khan Chamkani. The court issued warrants for all five on October 28, after the prosecution submitted a challan formally identifying them as suspects.
Investigators have placed forensic findings from NADRA Islamabad and the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory before the court on the identity of people seen in footage and photographs of the incident. Radio Pakistan's counsel has argued that video evidence exists and that forensic examination identified the accused at the scene.
In January the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory examined 16 video clips and reported that the footage showed Afridi, Bangash, Jhagra and Irfan Saleem, Minute Mirror reported. The same findings recorded signs of editing or splicing in some of the recordings.
On May 9, 2023, during protests against the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan, demonstrators broke through the main entrance of the Peshawar station, set the building and vehicles on fire and damaged broadcasting equipment. The station was established in 1935 and was among the country's oldest. Archives of Pashto and Hindko music, dramas and speeches were destroyed. More than 80 PTI leaders and workers were initially named in cases linked to the violence.
The federal government announced on October 11 that it would impose emergency and governor's rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution, citing worsening security conditions and what it described as shortcomings in the provincial administration's cooperation with counterterrorism efforts. A day later the minister of state for interior confirmed that Afridi and some members of his cabinet had been taken into preventive custody.
In November 2025 the court directed prosecution witnesses and the investigating officer to appear with the relevant evidence and case property.
How the reports differ
Minute Mirror named the three former ministers whose bail was extended, the judge hearing the case, the forensic examination of 16 video clips and the federal government's October 11 announcement on emergency and governor's rule. The Meghalayan Express report, as published, led only on the warrant against the chief minister, referred to it in the singular and did not carry the ministers' bail in its headline.
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