PESHAWAR: Former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Sohail Afridi was taken into protective custody from his room at the Chief Minister’s House after police broke down the door with the imposition of governor rule on Oct 11, 2026, according to details reported by Geo News, citing official and other sources.
The report said police launched the operation at noon on October 11. Afridi was reportedly alone in his room when officers entered. According to official sources, he was neither handcuffed nor placed in a prisoner transport vehicle.
Police officials reportedly spoke with Afridi for around 45 minutes before moving him to a secure location.
During the conversation, an officer asked Afridi how far he had intended to take the long march. According to sources quoted in the report, Afridi replied that the march was not intended to reach Islamabad.
He said that talks had taken place with the government and JUI chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman the previous night and that the federal government had agreed to demands concerning a meeting with the imprisoned PTI founder and his transfer to a hospital.
Afridi reportedly added that he had spoken with party leaders and was waiting for instructions before announcing the cancellation of the march.
When questioned about amendments to the Police Act, Afridi said he had not wanted to amend the law but pursued the move to apply pressure, according to the report.
The report stated that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, Junaid Akbar and former Gilgit-Baltistan chief minister Khalid Khurshid were taken into protective custody from the Speaker’s House.
Official sources said Junaid Akbar had been in a storage area adjoining the kitchen.
A provincial assembly member and a PTI social media official were also reportedly taken into custody from the premises. The operation to take the party leaders into protective custody was completed in approximately two hours.
The developments followed the announcement of emergency and Governor’s Rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, after which reports emerged that Afridi and other PTI leaders had been taken into protective custody.
It may be mentioned here that Afridi remained the chief minister for about one year after replacing Ali Amin Gandapur who was removed from the slot by the PTI leadership in October 2025. Afridi had taken oath as the chief minister on October 15, 2025.