While issuing the directives, the Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner said the release of Qureshi, who is the vice chairman of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, would pose a threat to peace and security, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

The directives mentioned that the CPO had proposed a 45-day detention period on the recommendation of the relevant Station House Officer even as the district intelligence committee too concurred with the assessments of the police and security authorities. The cipher case pertains to a piece of paper, purported to be a diplomatic cable -- the cipher -- that Khan had waved at a public rally on March 27, 2022, and naming the US claimed that it was ‘evidence’ of an “international conspiracy” to topple his government.

While granting Qureshi the right to appeal, the order detained Qureshi in the Adiala Jail for 15 days. The development comes days after the Supreme Court granted bail to former prime minister Imran Khan and Qureshi in the cipher case. However, both leaders were not released immediately due to their involvement in other ongoing cases, the Express Tribune said.

Qureshi, 67, was serving as a foreign minister at the time when he was indicted in the case on October 23. Incarcerated Khan and Qureshi are facing multiple cases and have been fighting cases in various courts ahead of the February 8 general elections.