An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Peshawar reissued arrest warrants for Sohail Afridi, the suspended Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister, on Wednesday. The warrants are linked to the arson and attack on the Radio Pakistan building in Peshawar during protests on May 9 and 10, 2023, following the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan.
During the hearing, ATC Judge Wali Mohammad heard former provincial ministers Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Kamran Bangash, and Irfan Saleem, who appeared with their lawyers. The defense team requested an adjournment, stating, “We are not prepared today. We should be given time, and the hearing should be adjourned.” The court granted the request, adjourning the hearing until November 17 and extending the interim bail for Jhagra, Bangash, and Saleem until that date.
The case was registered based on a complaint from Radio Pakistan, which nominated Afridi, Jhagra, Bangash, Saleem, and Aamir Khan Chamkani as accused. In a previous hearing on October 28, the ATC had issued arrest warrants for all five individuals after the prosecution submitted the challan formally naming them. To verify identities from video footage and photographs of the May 9 attack, the court obtained forensic reports from NADRA Islamabad and the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory. Counsel for Radio Pakistan informed the court that forensic analysis indicated the accused were present at the scene.
Reports of Afridi’s detention surfaced shortly after the federal government announced it would impose emergency and governor’s rule in K-P on October 11 under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution. The government cited a deteriorating law and order situation and a lack of support from the provincial administration against terrorism as reasons for the move. On October 12, the minister of state for interior confirmed that Afridi and some cabinet members were taken into preventive custody.
The attack on the Peshawar station occurred during widespread protests on May 9, 2023. Protesters broke through the main gate, set fire to the building and vehicles, and damaged equipment. The fire caused extensive damage to the historic station, which began operating in 1935. The arson destroyed century-old archives of Pashto and Hindko music, dramas, and speeches, which was described as a major cultural setback for regional-language broadcasting.
Initially, more than 80 PTI leaders and workers were reported to have been nominated in cases related to the violence. In November 2025, an ATC directed the investigating officer and prosecution witnesses to appear with relevant case property. The proceedings then focused on identifying those allegedly involved through forensic evidence. In January, the Punjab Forensic Science Laboratory analyzed 16 video clips which showed Afridi, Bangash, Jhagra, and Saleem. However, the report also noted that some clips showed signs of editing or splicing, underscoring the need to assess the evidence carefully.
