Balochistan caretaker Minister for Information Jan Achakzai stated on Tuesday that the provincial government had safely handed over Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen, who was arrested in Chaman, to Dera Ismail Khan police. Pashteen was taken into custody by Levies and police personnel on disputed claims of firing by his party and local police. Chaman Deputy Commissioner Raja Athar Abbas had said that Pashteen was arrested in connection with firing at police from his vehicle and a ban on his entry into Balochistan. However, the PTM alleged that law enforcement agencies fired at Pashteen’s vehicle while he was on his way from Chaman to Turbat. Achakzai refuted the PTM’s claims and alleged that Pashteen’s bodyguard had opened fire in front of the Chaman Press Club, injuring a woman and a child. He also claimed that youth and civil society members in Balochistan had demanded that the PTM be banned and stated that the provincial government is mulling a ban on PTM in the province. Additionally, he noted that Pashteen had entered Balochistan despite a ban on his entry and had been speaking at protests in Chaman. Last week, Pashteen announced that he would join a protest against the alleged extrajudicial killing of Balaach Balaach Mola Bakhsh in Turbat. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) expressed alarm at Pashteen’s arrest and stated that the PTM has never resorted to violence and has exercised its right to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression. HRCP demanded an impartial inquiry into Pashteen’s arrest and urged the state to cease its unwarranted antagonism against the movement’s leaders.