Former Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has been arrested, as he appeared in court at Islamabad. He has been previously charged with multiple graft cases. He was dragged outside by security agents and placed inside an armored car, before taken away.
Across the nation, supporters of Imran Khan, a former cricket player turned Islamist politician, condemned the arrest, which has worsened the political tensions in Pakistan. Fawad Chaudhry, a top official with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, claimed that National Accountability Bureau officials took Khan outside the Islamabad High Court and forced him into a police car, then took off.
A Pakistani television broadcasted the images of the arrest of the 72-year-old politician, being pulled by security forces towards an armored car and took off. Fawad Chaudhry has denounced the rumors of Imran Khan being abducted.
Khan was deposed from power in an April 2022 vote of no confidence. He ran a campaign against his successor’s administration, that of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, calling for early elections, claiming that his removal was unlawful and as a result of a Western conspiracy.
A brawl broke out between Khan’s followers and the police outside the court after Khan was taken away. Fawad Chaudhry claimed that, several police officers as well as some of Khan’s attorneys and supporters, have suffered injuries as a result of the altercation. Khan’s party filed a complaint at the Islamabad High Court at once and the court asked for the police report outlining reasons behind Khan’s arrest.
The National Accountability Bureau of Pakistan had filed an arrest warrants for Khan in connection with a different case of corruption, for which he had not been granted bail. This would have shielded him from arrest under Pakistani law. The officials who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said Khan would be brought before an anti-graft panel.
Khan was then transported to Rawalpindi, an army-held city close to Islamabad, where he would be grilled at the National Accountability Bureau’s offices. According to protocol, he would undergo a medical checkup.
Khan had traveled to Islamabad from his home in the neighboring city of Lahore, to appear before the Islamabad High Court on a series of graft cases. He has asserted that the prosecutions, which involve allegations of terrorism, are an attempt by Sharif’s administration to damage his reputation. As the news spread, Khan’s supporters in Lahore, started gathering and chanting anti-government slogans.
Raoof Hasan, another leader from Khan’s party said, the arrest was “blatant interference in the judicial affairs by the powers-that-be.” “We are completely in the dark. He was virtually abducted from the court of law,” Raoof Hasan averred.
In the port city of Karachi, Police had to use minimum force to scatter hundreds of Khan supporters, who had blocked major roads. Same activities are being carried out by police in Lahore city, where supporters of Imran Khan have also blocked key roads.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan stated at a press briefing that, Imran Khan was detained because he was wanted in connection with a corruption case. He disclosed that Khan had illegally acquired land from a business mogul while in office, resulting in millions of dollars in losses to the nation’s coffers.
Earlier in a video message, Khan said he was “mentally prepared” for arrest. He released the video hours before traveling to Islamabad, meaning he may have anticipated his arrest today.
However, the military has harshly criticized Khan for making “fabricated and malicious allegations” that, it was responsible for the shooting in November, calling them “extremely unfortunate, deplorable, and unacceptable.”
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif therefore criticized Khan for blaming the military for the November shoot incident. Moreover, Sharif’s government is attempting to recover from last year’s devastating flooding, which claimed hundreds of lives and cost $30 billion in damages.
“Let this be abundantly clear that you, as a former Prime Minister, currently on trial for corruption, are claiming legitimacy to overturn the legal and political system,” Prime Minister Sharif said, after Khan’s arrest.
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