Former prime minister Imran Khan has been arrested by a paramilitary force from outside Islamabad High Court.
PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf) Vice President Fawad Chaudhry tweeted that the IHC has been “occupied by the Rangers” and lawyers “are being subjected to torture”. “Imran Khan’s car has been surrounded,” he added. PTI lawyer Faisal Chaudhry confirmed the development to Dawn.
PTI leader Musarrat Cheema, in a video message on Twitter, said: “They are torturing Imran Khan right now … they are beating Khan sahib. They have done something with Khan sahib.”
Khan was at the Islamabad High Court to renew his bail when the Rangers arrested him at the NAB's (National Accountability Bureau) behest. There are at least 140 cases registered against Khan in various courts related to terrorism, blasphemy, murder, violence, inciting to violence. He is expected to be present at NAB courts on Wednesday. Section 144 has been imposed on Islamabad, which means all kinds of corner meetings, jalsa, public gatherings and congregations have been prohibited.
"Mr Khan has been arrested in a land transfer case to property tycoon Malik Riaz and is being handed over to National Accountability Bureau (NAB)", a NAB official confirmed to PTI.
He said that Khan has been arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust case. "His arrest warrants were issued today morning and subsequently he is arrested," he said.
The Islamabad Police, on May 6, had summoned Khan to the city’s Police Lines Headquarters on May 10 and 11 to record his statement on four terror cases regarding unrest outside the Federal Judicial Complex (FJC) and the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Dawn reported.
On March 18, when the PTI chief appeared at the FJC, PTI workers and the police clashed. Following this, he was booked in two more terror cases by the Counter-Terrorism Department’s police station and Golra police station for allegedly attacking police and causing unrest outside the court.
A Joint Investigation Team (JIT) was formed on March 23 to probe terrorism cases registered against Khan and other “miscreants” relating to the clash outside the FJC.
On April 20, the Lahore High Court observed that the proceedings of the JIT would be subject to the decision on the PTI’s petitions challenging the JIT, on which a verdict was reserved on May 5, ANI reported.
In the meantime, a Pakistani court on May 5 turned down Khan's to dismiss a Rs 10 billion defamation lawsuit against him filed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The sessions court directed PM Nawaz Sharif to present evidence against Khan in the next hearing on May 20. The case has been pending for the last six years.
Sharif in 2017 filed a defamation suit against Khan for accusing him of offering the latter Rs 10 billion through a common friend in exchange for withdrawing the Panama Papers case from the Supreme Court.
Sharif sought a decree for recovery of Rs 10 billion as compensation from Khan for the publication of defamatory content.