An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Karachi has issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Dr Mahrang Baloch in a sedition case, even though she is already in police custody in Balochistan.
According to court proceedings, the investigating officer (IO) submitted a charge sheet placing her in Column 2 and declaring her an “absconder.” The ATC-V judge ordered her arrest and appearance before the court on September 5.
The IO accused Dr Mahrang of multiple offences, including sedition under Section 124-A of the Pakistan Penal Code, rioting, unlawful assembly, promoting enmity, defamation, and terrorism under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.
Her lawyer, Jibran Nasir, described the development as an attempt to prolong her detention. He noted that the warrant coincides with the expiry of her current physical remand in Quetta. “This means the state intends to move her to Karachi once her remand ends in Quetta, thereby extending her custody,” he said in a Facebook post.
He further pointed out that the FIR — registered at Quaidabad Police Station in October 2024 — invokes Section 124-A, a law struck down by the Lahore High Court as unconstitutional. At the time of the alleged incident, Nasir said, Dr Mahrang was in DHA attending an event at a law chamber, with witnesses and CCTV footage supporting her presence there.
The lawyer also highlighted that while the Sindh High Court had initially stayed her arrest in this case, the petition was later disposed of on March 18, 2025, based on the IO’s claim that a charge sheet had already been filed. “In reality, no such charge sheet existed at the time,” he maintained. A petition challenging that ruling is still pending before the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, outside the courts, protests by the families of Dr Mahrang and other Baloch missing persons entered their 44th consecutive day in Islamabad. Her sister, Nadia Baloch, has been leading the sit-in, demanding the release of BYC leaders as well as the recovery of forcibly disappeared Baloch youth.
It should be noted that Dr Mahrang Baloch was arrested on March 22 under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO), and the anti-terrorism court has since extended her remand following hearings.