Pakistan Police Arrest Dozens of Supporters of Former PM Imran Khan

By Mubasher Bukhari and Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) – Police in Pakistan have arrested dozens of supporters and aides of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in raids in two cities as a part of a crackdown on these concerned in latest clashes with the safety forces, Khan’s occasion and police stated on Monday.

Supporters of Khan’s occasion, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), clashed with police within the metropolis of Lahore final week as they tried to arrest him at his residence, and later with police in Islamabad as he arrived to look earlier than a courtroom on Saturday.

“Round 285 PTI supporters have been arrested in Lahore and Islamabad. Homes of all main leaders had been raided by police final night time,” Khan’s aide, Fawad Chaudhry, informed Reuters.

Khan, a former cricket star, was prime minister from 2018 till 2022, when he was ousted from workplace in a parliamentary vote. Since then he has been demanding a snap election and holding protest rallies throughout the nation to press his case.

His successor as prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has rejected his demand and stated an election can be held as scheduled later this yr.

Khan, 70, is dealing with a number of authorized circumstances, together with one which prompted a failed try to arrest him on Tuesday after a courtroom issued warrants for his arrest for not showing earlier than it.

Clashes between Khan’s supporters and the safety forces have introduced a brand new spherical of political chaos to Pakistan, which is within the midst of a crippling financial disaster.

Khan says the federal government and the highly effective army are attempting to cease him from contesting the subsequent election, scheduled for November. If convicted in a case, Khan might face disqualification from the polls.

Each the federal government and army deny this.

Police in each Lahore and Islamabad confirmed the raids and the arrest of PTI staff they stated had been concerned in clashes with police and arson.

“Police are raiding the homes as a result of seven circumstances on numerous prices, together with terrorism, have been registered in opposition to the leaders and staff,” Lahore police chief Bilal Kamiana informed Reuters referring to the clashes with police.

He stated 125 activists had been arrested in Lahore, together with some final week.

In Islamabad, a police spokesman 198 PTI supporters had been arrested in reference to arson and assaults on police wherein 58 folks had been injured and greater than a dozen automobiles, together with some police automobiles, had been set ablaze.

Extra raids had been being carried out, the spokesman stated.

He stated police had additionally gone to the house of a sitting PTI senator, Shibli Faraz, with a search warrant, however the senator was not residence.

Khan, remembered by many for his success as a cricket participant and later for his charity work, gained appreciable help amongst sections of the voters together with his conservative, nationalistic insurance policies.

(Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore and Gibran Peshimam in Islamabad; Enhancing by Robert Birsel)

Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters.