QUETTA: The opposition parties filed an application in a local court on Thursday requesting it to order the police to register an FIR against Chief Minister Jam Kamal Alyani and SSP operations of Quetta Ahmed Mahyuddin in connection with the June 18 mayhem on the premises of the Balochistan Assembly.

       Earlier, the opposition had submitted an application to the Bijli Road police demanding registration of a similar FIR. However, police did not register a case on the demand of the opposition parties.

       On the other hand, police registered an FIR lodged by the government against 17 opposition MPAs, including opposition leader Malik Sikandar Khan, and over 200 workers of the opposition parties.

       The opposition MPAs on Monday went to Bijli Road police station and offered their arrest. However, police refused to arrest them saying without an investigation and proofs of the allegations levelled in the FIR they could not make any arrest.

       The opposition MPAs, including a female legislator, Shakeela Naveed Dhewar, chose to stay at the police station where they are still present.

       Efforts made by the government to resolve the issue through negotiations have proved unsuccessful.

       In the latest development, MPAs Akhtar Hussain Langove, Sanaullah Baloch (BNP-Mengal) and Abdul Wahid Siddique (JUI-F) filed the application at the district and sessions court.

       They alleged in the petition that the chief minister and the SSP had planned to assassinate the opposition lawmakers and three MPAs were injured in the June 18 violence. Therefore, a case should be registered against the chief minister and the SSP.

       The court will take up the application on June 26.

       Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2021