Sohail Afridi, KP assembly speaker in preventative custody: police

Sohail Afridi, KP assembly speaker in preventative custody: police.

Key points

• Umer Farooq Published October 12, 2026 Updated October 12, 2026 08: 22pm.
• Umer Farooq is a Peshawar-based reporter for Dawn with 17 years of experience covering security, governance, and politics in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
• Governor Faisal Karim Kundi has assumed the role of running the province on behalf of the Centre, with an 11-member technocratic KP Advisory Council formed to assist him.
• Non-functional Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister, Sohail Afridi, and some of his cabinet members are in preventative custody, authorities confirmed on Monday.
• PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram has remarked Afridi's "arrest" could not be viewed in isolation from the federal government's decision to impose emergency and governor's rule.

Umer Farooq Published October 12, 2026 Updated October 12, 2026 08: 22pm. Join our Whatsapp Channel.

Notably, the PTI had documented their detention on Sunday, shortly after the Centre imposed emergency and governor's rule in the province under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution.

On Monday, Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry informed Reuters, "Yes, I can confirm that the chief minister (Sohail Afridi) and some of his cabinet members have been taken into preventive custody."

If any of them have any cases to be tried against them, they will be charged and tried but the others will be published, he stated, adding that the detentions happened on Sunday.

In practice, a senior police official privy to the developments additionally confirmed to Dawn that eight residents – including Afridi, MNA Junaid Akbar and assembly speaker Babar Saleem Swati – had been taken into "preventative custody".

As of Sunday, even Afridi's party members remarked they did not know concerning his whereabouts. According to Sources had, the chief minister and Akbar were under house arrest under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).

Meanwhile, PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram has remarked Afridi's "arrest" could not be viewed in isolation from the federal government's decision to impose emergency and governor's rule.

He contended that the arrests had "exposed the political nature of the federal government's actions".

"These measures are not directed at addressing security challenges; they are intended to weaken PTI, undermine the elected government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and disregard the democratic will of its people, " Akram continued.

In practice, the emergency follows heightened tensions between the PML-N-led federal administration and the PTI-led KP administration. The Centre and opposition have been at odds over various problems, particularly the counterterrorism policy. It was one of the main reasons cited by both parties behind the breakdown of their Oct 3 negotiations.

In practice, the governor's rule additionally coincided with the PTI's long march to Islamabad. It was being led by Afridi and remained limited to KP.

While the party has vowed to continue with its planned protest, the provincial police have been directed to thwart any such move.

In Peshawar, shipping containers blocked a number of roads, with heavy police deployment. Residents were additionally impacted by internet disruptions and mobile service suspensions a day earlier.

Chairing the council's first session, Kundi reaffirmed that his top priority was "taking effective steps against terrorism".

Besides the imposition of emergency, the federal administration has additionally authorised the deployment of Pakistan Army troops and assets in aid of civil power in KP. Governor's rule in KP.

Umer Farooq is a Peshawar-based reporter for Dawn with 17 years of experience covering security, governance, and politics in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He can be discovered on X at @Umer_Pasanni.

For now, sohail Afridi, KP assembly speaker in preventative custody: police remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.