LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Punjab Chief Organizer Aliya Hamza is reported to have been picked up, apparently by police, on Thursday while she was visiting family in Lahore, according to senior party officials.
PTI Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram and other leaders confirmed the arrest, stating that Hamza was shifted to an undisclosed location following her detention. Neither the Punjab government nor local police have issued an official statement regarding the specific grounds for the move.
عالیہ حمزہ آپا ایک نظریاتی اور دلیر سیاسی رہنماء ہیں۔ انکی کی دوبارہ گرفتاری تحریکِ انصاف کے لئے بڑا دھچکا ہے۔ عالیہ آپا نے جعلی مقدمات میں سزاؤں کے باوجود بھی عمران خان صاحب کے نظریے کا بھرپور ساتھ دیا اور پارٹی کو متحرک رکھا۔ اڈیالہ کے باہر جس طریقے سے انہوں نے شدید مشکلات اور…
— Faisal Hussain (@faisal_fareed) March 26, 2026
Although there have been no official words on her arrest, yet, it appears to be the enforcement of a 2025 conviction and existing warrants related to the May 9, 2023, riots. In August 2025, an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore sentenced Hamza to five years in prison in connection with those events.
Prior to that sentencing, the same court had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Hamza in June 2025, citing her repeated failure to appear for trial proceedings in the Corps Commander House attack case, a key component of the legal fallout from the 2023 protests.
Hamza has faced a series of arrests and bail releases since the initial May 9 incidents. While she had remained at liberty through various rounds of litigation, this latest action follows the finalization of her prison sentence and the outstanding warrants from earlier this year.
