Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) chief Manzoor Pashteen has been arrested from Shaheen Town of Peshawar during the wee hours of Monday, Dawn reported.

According to reports, the Pashtun rights activist was arrested in a case registered against him at the City Police Station in Dera Ismail Khan on January 18 under sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy), 124 (sedition), and 123-A (condemning the creation of the country and advocating the abolishment of its sovereignty) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

Confirming the arrest, officials at the Tahkal Police Station said that Pashteen was currently in the custody of Peshawar police, but will be shifted to Dera Ismail Khan.

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“Police will present Pashteen before a judicial magistrate for his transitory remand,” the official was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, senior PTM leader and lawmaker Mohsin Dawar has condemned the arrest. “This is our punishment for demanding our rights in a peaceful and democratic manner. Manzoor’s arrest will only strengthen our resolve. We demand the immediate release of Manzoor Pashteen,” he tweeted.

PTM is a rights-based alliance that, besides calling for the de-mining of the former tribal areas and greater freedom of movement in the latter, has insisted on an end to the practices of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions, and for their practitioners to be held to account within a truth and reconciliation framework.

The party has been critical of the army’s policies in the country’s tribal belt, where a massive operation against terrorists was conducted in recent times leading to large-scale displacement and enforced disappearances.

Internet is divided over the arrest, as it is on the policy and aims of the social movement.