It was later on alleged that the officers were incited to leave through the efforts of PPP supporters and the then Chief Minister of Punjab Ghulam Mustafa Khar.
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This divide turned into a total split when Ataullah Mengal allied himself with Khair Bakhsh Marri and attempted to take over the National Democratic Party (a successor to the then banned NAP).
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In 1958, Ataullah Mengal along with chief of Marri tribe Khair Bakhsh Marri joined the National Awami Party (Wali) of Khan Wali Khan and developed a close friendship with Wali Khan over the next decade.
Those arrested from the National Awami Party leadership included Khan Abdul Wali Khan, Khan Amirzadah Khan, Syed Muhammad Kaswar Gardezi, Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, Mir Gul Khan Nasir, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Habib Jalib, Barrister Azizullah Shaikh, Aslam Baluch (Shaysani), Aslam Kurd, Saleem Kurd, Sher Mohammad Marri (General Sherof), Najam Sethi, Saleem Pervez, Majid Gichki, Mir Abdul Wahid Kurd (read article) and Karnel Sultan Mengal.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (the Prime Minister of Pakistan at that time) already had grievances with the NAP Leadership and after Nawab Akbar Bugti "revealed" in an address at Mochi Gate, Lahore that Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo (Governor of Balochistan at the time) and Sardar Ataullah Mengal (Chief Minister at the time) planned to separate Balochistan from Pakistan, Bhutto got his chance to persecute the leaders and workers of NAP.