September 26, 2026
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
Another member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has reportedly been abducted in the province just as the Provincial Assembly wrote to police clarifying that a lawmaker cannot be arrested or detained without the Speaker’s permission.
On September 25, armed men intercepted and abducted Sardar Riaz, an MPA from Kohistan, as he was traveling from Abbottabad to Mansehra — the same day the KP Assembly Secretariat issued its letter to the provincial police chief. His vehicle was later found abandoned on the Karakoram Highway in the Mangal area.
“MPA Sardar Muhammad Riaz, along with his driver and two gunmen, was abducted from Abbottabad around 9 PM on Thursday night. As of now, there is no trace of him or his companions,” PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s official handle quoted Abdul Hameed Bhanja, Riaz’s personal secretary, in a post on Saturday, September 26.
In its letter to the Inspector General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, dated September 25, the Assembly’s Deputy Secretary Ibrahim Khan reiterated that under Section 11 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly (Powers, Privileges, and Immunities) Act, 2026, obtaining the Speaker’s written permission is mandatory before any Assembly member can be arrested or detained.
“When a member has to be arrested on a criminal charge or offence, or detained under an executive order, the magistrate or executive authority concerned shall seek prior permission of the Speaker, indicating the reasons for the arrest or detention, in the form set out in the Second Schedule,” the letter stated.
It added that the Speaker may also call for the police report or challan where the public interest requires it: “Where the Speaker deems it necessary in the public interest, he may require the relevant police officer to submit the police report or challan to ascertain the facts of the matter. The Speaker may, at his discretion, order an inquiry before the challan is submitted to court.”
These developments come amid ongoing reports of alleged disappearances of lawmakers in the province, including a provincial minister. Meanwhile, PTI’s long march to Islamabad — originally planned for September 27 — has been postponed to October 4.
Earlier, on September 21, KP Minister for Public Health Engineering Fazal Shakoor Khan was reportedly abducted by unidentified armed men near the Peshawar Motorway toll plaza.
Beyond the provincial assembly, PTI claims around eight of its National Assembly members have been detained under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law. Five of them — Adil Khan Bazai, Mian Ahsan Jamal, Sanaullah Masti Khel, Mian Ghous Muhammad, and Dawar Khan Kundi — are being held at Mianwali Jail in Punjab.
The letter has also drawn a strong reaction at the federal level. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi criticized the procedure, questioning whether police would still need the Speaker’s permission to arrest an assembly member accused of murder. “Now in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, even if an MPA is accused of a criminal offence, the police must first seek the Speaker’s permission before arresting him,” Naqvi wrote on X. “What next? If an MPA kills someone, will the police first wait for the Speaker’s permission to arrest him? What an extraordinary version of ‘equality before law.’ Well done. Keep it up! And this is Riyasat-e-Madina?”
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly’s letter seeking legal safeguards for its members is likely to become another flashpoint in the widening rift between the federal government and the province. The PTI is portraying the arrests as political pressure tactics, while federal officials are calling the legislation a challenge to the rule of law. With the long march approaching, the standoff is set to intensify, and it remains to be seen what role the courts and constitutional institutions will play.