Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan arrested in corruption case

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested outside the Islamabad High Court by a paramilitary force, local GEO TV reported on Tuesday.

The former prime minister was in court to renew his bail when the Rangers made the arrest on the National Accountability Bureau (NAB)'s request.

"There is no case on me. They want to put me in jail, I am ready for it," said Imran Khan minutes before his arrest.

Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was taken into custody In the Qadir Trust case which concerns allegations that Bahria Town allotted land worth Rs 530 million to Al-Qadir Trust, owned by the PTI chairman and his wife, according to Dawn.

Former information minister and PTI Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said that the court has been occupied by the Rangers and lawyers are being subjected to torture.

"Former PM Imran Khan has been abducted from Court premises, scores of lawyers and general people have been tortured, Imran Khan has been whisked away by unknown people to an unknown location, CJ Islamabad High Court has ordered secretary interior and IG police to appear within 15 minutes in the court," tweeted Fawad Chaudhry.

Another PTI leader Azhar Mashwani alleged that 70-year-old Khan had been abducted from inside the court by the Rangers.

He said that the party had given an immediate call for staging protests in the country.

"They are torturing Imran Khan right now...they are beating Khan sahib. They have done something with Khan sahib," Cheema said in a video message posted on the party's Twitter handle.

The PTI alleged that Khan was being tortured but it was not confirmed independently.

"State terrorism breaking into IHC premises to abduct Imran Khan from court premises. Law of the jungle in operation. Rangers beat the lawyers, used violence on Imran Khan and abducted him," tweeted former minister Shireen Mazari, a PTI spokeswoman.

"What laws? Courts attacked by Rangers as if invading an occupied land - lawyers and IHC staff also beaten. This is Pakistan today, a fascist State where High Court has been attacked by paramilitary forces," he added.

The arrest comes a day after the powerful army had accused Khan of levelling baseless allegations against a senior army officer.

Khan has been facing a slew of cases since his ouster through a no trust vote in April last year. He has rejected all these cases as political victimisation by the ruling alliance.

with agency inputs