• Case registered at Shaqri police station.
• FIR filed by Sanam’s friend in Peshawar.
• Incident happened on busy road in Peshawar: FIR.
  

A case has been registered at Peshawar’s Sharqi Police Station over the alleged abduction of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) activist Sanam Javed.

According to the first information report (FIR) filed by her friend on Tuesday, who is a female lawyer, Sanam Javed was reportedly stopped by five unidentified individuals on a busy road in Peshawar and forced into a vehicle before being taken away.

The complaint, in the FIR, termed the incident a serious breach of law and order, stating that such an act raises questions about the enforcement of the law in the city.

She called for an immediate investigation into the matter and the arrest of those involved in the alleged abduction, reads the FIR.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram claimed on Monday that party leader Sanam Javed has been picked up from Peshawar, The News reported.

According to Sheikh Waqas, the incident took place on one of Peshawar’s busy roads, where two vehicles intercepted Sanam Javed’s car, adding the individuals reportedly dragged her out of the vehicle in front of her companions and forced her into their own cars before speeding away.

Waqas termed the incident an act of abduction and demanded her immediate release.

He said such actions are part of a continuing campaign of political victimisation against PTI leaders and workers.

On the other hand, PTI leadership and supporters on social media asked how such an incident could happen under a PTI-led government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with many demanding Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur personally intervene to ensure her safe recovery and bring those responsible to justice.

• President Zardari, Mohsin Naqvi to discuss PML-N-PPP friction.
• PPP members boycott NA, Senate sessions over Maryam’s remarks.
• Party laments divisive rhetoric coming from Punjab towards Sindh.

KARACHI/ISLAMABAD: The tensions between coalition partners Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) escalated sharply after heated exchanges over Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s public remarks, The News reported on Tuesday.

The PPP lawmakers, a day earlier, staged walkouts from both the National Assembly and the Senate and demanded a formal apology, while PML-N ministers rejected the demand and counterattacked Sindh’s governance record.

However, President Asif Ali Zardari stepped in to defuse the growing tensions between the Sindh and Punjab governments who summoned Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to Karachi for urgent consultations.

The president held a telephonic conversation with the interior minister to discuss the ongoing friction between the provincial government of Punjab and Sindh and summoned him to Karachi immediately.

The president’s intervention comes against the backdrop of the ongoing verbal spat between the PPP and PML-N — the key ruling parties at the Centre — who have been at odds over flood relief, water resources, and the performance of their respective provincial governments in Sindh and Punjab.

On Monday, the PPP lawmakers staged walkouts from the Senate and National Assembly, demanding an apology from the Punjab chief minister. In National Assembly, the PPP and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers separately staged walkouts.

The PPP members boycotted the House proceedings in protest against what they termed “regrettable remarks” made by Punjab CM against their leadership.

Speaking on a point of order, former prime minister and senior PPP leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said his party would not participate in the proceedings until the government provided a satisfactory explanation regarding the Punjab CM’s statements.

“Bilawal Bhutto never criticised any PML-N leader; rather, he appreciated the Punjab CM’s governance. We are part of this government for the sake of Pakistan’s federation, not confrontation,” Raja said.

He added that PPP’s tolerance should not be mistaken for weakness, reminding the House that the party had faced much tougher times, including military dictatorships.

Ashraf also criticised the withdrawal of security for the PPP’s parliamentary leader in the Punjab Assembly and called it a violation of the spirit of the Charter of Democracy.

“We must not use divisive language or resort to blame games. Respect is more important for us than power,” he added.

Speaking on the floor of the House, PPP parliamentary leader Senator Sherry Rehman expressed concern over what she described as “divisive rhetoric” coming from Punjab towards Sindh and the PPP leadership at a time when the nation was reeling from devastating floods.

“Over 6.5 million Pakistanis have been affected by floods — these are not Punjabis or Sindhis, they are Pakistanis. Instead of focusing on their plight, divisive rhetoric is growing. This is no way to manage a crisis or a coalition,” she said.

Sherry Rehman said the ongoing “war of words” between Punjab and Sindh was hurting both the coalition and national unity. She asserted that the PPP had shown restraint and solidarity but a red line was crossed when PML-N leaders “played the Punjab card” and criticised Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Aseefa Bhutto Zardari.

She lamented that the Punjab government had even withdrawn the security of PPP’s parliamentary leader in the Punjab Assembly.

Defending Bilawal’s recent comments, she said he had merely suggested that the Punjab government use Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) data to identify and compensate flood victims.

Calling BISP one of the world’s most effective social protection mechanisms, she cited a World Bank report to support her point. Sherry maintained that “an apology brings more respect” and that PPP did not believe in “politics of division or hatred”.

“If an apology is not offered, then don’t take our support for granted. The PPP remains the largest party in the Senate,” she warned before leading her party’s walkout.

Responding to her remarks, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar struck a conciliatory tone, saying that President Asif Zardari had already taken cognisance of the situation and stepped in to play his constitutional role.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif are both proponents of reconciliation. The political temperature will come down soon,” Tarar said, adding humorously that the opposition should not celebrate these “ups and downs” in coalition politics.

Meanwhile, separately, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has clapped back at PTI’s Asad Qaiser for suggesting that PPP move a no-confidence motion against the government, telling him to focus on fixing his own party first.

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyers want the hip-hop mogul sent to a low-security federal prison in New Jersey to serve his four-year, two-month prison sentence, telling a judge Monday that the facility’s drug treatment program will help him stay clean. 

In a letter, Combs’ lawyers urged the judge presiding over his case, Arun Subramanian, to “strongly recommend” that the federal Bureau of Prisons place Combs at FCI Fort Dix, a massive prison located on the grounds of the joint military base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

FCI Fort Dix, one of several dozen federal prisons with a residential drug treatment program, will best allow Combs “to address drug abuse issues and to maximize family visitation and rehabilitative efforts,” Combs’ lawyer Teny Geragos wrote. He also cited educational and occupational programs available at the prison, located about 70 miles south of New York City.

The request from Combs’ attorney came after Subramanian asked his lawyers on Friday at the sentencing hearing to let him know their preference for a prison facility.

Also Monday, President Trump told reporters that Combs had asked him for a pardon. Mr. Trump, referring to Combs by the nickname “Puff Daddy,” did not say if he would grant the request. Messages seeking comment on Mr. Trump’s remarks were left for Combs’ lawyers and his publicity team by The Associated Press.

Combs’ sentencing for two prostitution-related charges capped a federal case that featured harrowing testimony about violence, drugs and so-called “freak-offs,” and exposed the sordid private life of one of the most influential figures in music.

While the criminal case against Combs came to an end, he still faces civil lawsuits, including from a former stylist who accused Combs of sexually, physically and emotionally abusing him while he was working for Combs and his label, Bad Boy Entertainment — allegations that Combs has denied, with his legal team calling them “falsehoods.” 

Deonte’ Nash alleged he was frightened throughout his roughly decade-long experience working for the music mogul. The 39-year-old stylist claims Combs choked him multiple times, describing one alleged incident that occurred after he went to a restaurant with R&B singer Cassie Ventura, Combs’ ex-girlfriend whose testimony was critical in his conviction.

The “I’ll Be Missing You” singer was convicted in July under the federal Mann Act, which bans transporting people across state lines for any sexual crime. His trial ended in a split verdict, with acquittals on sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put him behind bars for life.

Combs has been locked up at a federal jail in Brooklyn, the Metropolitan Detention Center, since his September 2024 arrest. His time there will be subtracted from his sentence, meaning he could get out in about three years.

In a letter to Subramanian on the eve of sentencing, Combs said he has gone through a “spiritual reset” in jail and is “committed to the journey of remaining a drug free, non-violent and peaceful person.”

“I thank God that I’m stronger, wiser, clean, clear and sober,” he wrote.

Subramanian has not yet acted on the request to recommend placement at FCI Fort Dix.

Judges often make recommendations about where inmates should serve time, but it’s up to the Bureau of Prisons to decide. Those decisions, the agency has said, are based on a variety of factors, including the severity of the offense, the required security level and an inmate’s programming needs.

FCI Fort Dix, the largest single federal prison by population with just under 3,900 inmates, is about 64 miles southwest of New York City, where Combs was born and rose to fame as a rapper and entrepreneur in an array of businesses, including fashion, television and liquor. An adjacent minimum-security prison camp has 210 inmates.

Combs once owned a home in New Jersey, selling it nearly a decade ago.

His primary residence, according to court papers, has been a $48 million mansion on an island near Miami. That home and a mansion he owns in Los Angeles were raided by federal agents last year during the investigation that led to his arrest.

FCI Fort Dix has been home to a number of high-profile inmates over the years, including reputed mobsters, drug traffickers, corrupt politicians and Martin Shkreli. For a time, it was run by the warden who had been in charge of a Manhattan federal jail when financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself at the jail in 2019. That warden, Lamine N’Diaye, has since retired.

In 2021, a 27-year-old Fort Dix inmate was stabbed in the eyeball by a fellow prisoner.

In 2019, a Fort Dix inmate, a former inmate and two other people were arrested for using a drone to smuggle in contraband including cellphones, tobacco, weight-loss supplements and eyeglasses. The same year, a Fort Dix correctional officer pleaded guilty in a separate case to pocketing bribes to smuggle in contraband.

During his time at Fort Dix, Shkreli ended up in solitary confinement amid allegations he was using a contraband smartphone to run his drug company from behind bars. Inmates are forbidden from conducting business and possessing cellphones.