Pakistan cops raid Imran Khan's Lahore residence as he heads to Islamabad court
Pakistan police stormed former Prime Minister Imran Khan's residence in the eastern city of Lahore on Saturday and arrested 30 people amid tear gas shelling after someone opened fire from the roof of the building, officials said.
His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, shared a video on its official Twitter account that showed Mr Khan's supporters at his home being lathicharged by the policemen.
State terrorism at Zaman Park pic.twitter.com/ujc3A0SSQX
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) March 18, 2023
پولیس کا زمان پارک میں آپریشن،تجاوزات ہٹادیے،متعدد کارکن زیر حراستhttps://t.co/uYoLx4SHWx pic.twitter.com/ZIB3vSFcWG
— العربیہ اردو (@AlArabiya_Ur) March 18, 2023
This is not how u implement even a search warrant. This is pure State terrorism. Some within the State delib it seems want to create a widening rift between the people & the State so that Pak weakens & accepts subservience to external powers. #LondonPlan pic.twitter.com/4ysXgWF0BX
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) March 18, 2023
Meanwhile, Khan was expected to appear in an Islamabad court on Saturday in a corruption case against him, amidst a stand-off between his supporters and security forces who have tried to arrest him for skipping multiple previous hearings.
Khan, the 70-year-old chief of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, is scheduled to appear before the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Zafar Iqbal to attend proceedings on the complaint filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for allegedly concealing details of gifts in his assets declarations.
Accompanied
by
a
convoy
of
his
party
workers,
the
PTI
chief
has
departed
from
his
residence
in
Zaman
Park,
Lahore,
and
is
en
route
to
Islamabad,
the
Dawn
newspaper
reported.
Khan
said
he
was
aware
that
the
government
would
arrest
him
as
he
headed
to
the
Islamabad
court
to
attend
the
Toshakhana
case
hearing
amid
protracted
efforts
from
law
enforcers
to
apprehend
him
for
missing
previous
hearings.
"I am going to court despite knowing they'll arrest me because I believe in the rule of law," he said in a video message posted on Twitter.
Stringent security measures have been implemented outside the judicial complex in Islamabad's G-11, where Khan is expected to arrive by noon.
A large contingent of police has been deployed to the area to provide security for Khan, who survived an assassination attempt in November last year.
Meanwhile, reports from Lahore said that police have taken control of Khan's residence at Zaman Park after evicting hundreds of PTI supporters.
In the last hearing on Thursday, the court rejected Imran's plea seeking the suspension of non-bailable arrest warrants issued for him.
However, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday suspended non-bailable arrest warrants issued for Imran, providing him with a chance to appear before the trial court on Saturday.
During Friday's hearing, Imran's lawyer Khawaja Haris submitted an undertaking by his client, assuring it that the PTI chief would appear in court on March 18.
Khan has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana and selling them for profit.
Established in 1974, the Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.
Khan was disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in October last year for not sharing details of the sales. The election body later filed a complaint with the district court to punish him, under criminal laws, for selling the gifts he had received as prime minister of the country.
Khan has skipped several hearings in the case.
The PTI chief has been resisting arrest in the Toshakhana case, holed up inside his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, surrounded by hundreds of his supporters, who have fought pitched battles with the police and Rangers over the past few days, resulting in injuries to more than 60 people, mostly policemen.
The clashes ultimately subsided after the courts intervened on Wednesday, a day after which Khan's supporters placed shipping containers outside the main entrance of his residence and equipped themselves with clubs and slings to protect the former premier from any further police action.
As police laid siege to his Lahore residence, Khan had once again rushed to the IHC with a petition against the arrest orders.
The
IHC
refused
to
intervene
and
asked
the
lawyer
to
go
to
the
district
court
and
give
a
commitment
that
Khan
would
appear
on
March
18
when
the
court
had
scheduled
a
hearing
of
the
case.
Khan
appeared
before
Lahore
High
Court
on
Friday
and
assured
that
he
was
ready
to
present
himself
on
Saturday
before
the
judge
handling
a
corruption
case
against
him.
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry told media persons on Friday, adding, "an undertaking has also been given to the court".
Meanwhile, Punjab police personnel removed barricades from the entrance of Imran's Zaman Park residence and entered the premises. The police were reportedly met with resistance from PTI workers camped inside and responded with a baton charge.
Some activists were reportedly taken into custody. It was also reported that the police broke into the PTI chief's house by smashing the door. The personnel also uprooted camps erected inside the premises.
Khan decried the police operation that was underway at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore. "Meanwhile Punjab police have led an assault on my house in Zaman Park where Bushra Begum is alone," he said in a tweet. "Under what law are they doing this? This is part of the London Plan where commitments were made to bring absconder Nawaz Sharif to power as quid pro quo for agreeing to one appointment."
The PTI chief maintained that an "agreement" was signed in London which outlined that "Imran has to be put in jail to destroy his party and finish all cases against Nawaz Sharif".
Imran maintained that his arrest had "nothing to do with the law" but was in fact part of the 'London' conspiracy.