Ajit Karn
Imran Khan, the leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and former prime minister of Pakistan, has accused the federal government of planning his arrest, claiming that this is all part of a “London plan” to end all cases against Nawaz Sharif, another former prime minister of Pakistan.
Imran Khan stated in a video message, “This is part of the London plan and an agreement has been signed there to put Imran in jail, bring down the PTI, and resolve all cases against Nawaz Sharif.”
He further stated that he doesn’t understand the reason behind the attack on people as he had already assured that he will be present in court on March 18.
Wednesday morning in Lahore, tension prevailed as these remarks were made. For the former prime minister’s arrest, additional contingents were dispatched to the PTI chairman’s Zaman Park residence, where a standoff between party supporters and law enforcement has been ongoing for more than 14 hours.
Imran Khan stated that in order to prevent chaos, he had given a promise to the president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, who attempted to deliver it to the DIG who was coming to arrest the PTI leader, but the DIG did not meet the president.
“According to Code of Criminal Procedure Section 76, if this surety bond is given to the arresting officer, then I cannot be arrested,” Imran said.
The leader of the PTI asserted that the DIG had no reason not to accept the commitment and pointed to malicious intent.
Protests erupted in Islamabad, Peshawar, and Karachi after Imran urged his supporters to “come out” in response to the police’s use of tear gas and a water cannon against his supporters outside Zaman Park.
Samaa English reported that the Punjab police sought additional water cannons on both sides of Canal Road and fired tear gas shells at PTI employees.
A large number of PTI supporters demonstrated in front of the press club in Peshawar. After holding the demonstration, PTI workers blocked Sher shah Suri road and started marching towards the Governor House.
The Islamabad police reported that PTI protesters had blocked Tarnol Road, but swift action had reopened it to traffic. A police officer stated, “A case has been registered at the Tarnol Police Station against the PTI employees who blocked the road on Imran Khan’s orders.”
People in Chowrangi, Karachi, lit tyres on fire as part of a dharna to protest the police’s atrocities in Zaman Park.
On Monday, two arrest warrants without bail were issued for the PTI chief after he failed to appear in court in Toshakhana-related cases and threatened a female additional district and sessions judge.
The Dawn reported that the 70-year-old former prime minister has skipped court hearings in several cases while recovering from a gunshot wound sustained in an assassination attempt in Wazirabad last year.
Today, the leader of the PTI was scheduled to appear before two district and session courts in Islamabad; however, Imran’s attorneys filed petitions for an exemption from the hearings, citing security concerns.
Imran has evaded indictment hearings in this case three times. He is accused of concealing details of the gifts he retained from the Toshakhana in his asset declarations. The Toshakhana is a repository where gifts given to government officials by foreign officials are stored.
The IHC suspended Imran’s non-bailable arrest warrants until March 13 and ordered him to appear in sessions court on March 7.
Tuesday’s proceedings began with Imran’s attorney, Khawaja Haris, informing the court that his client would be unable to attend. Imran’s attorney stated, “He is not refusing to appear, but due to security concerns he cannot be present.”
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He recalled that the IHC had asked the sessions court to initiate legal proceedings against the PTI chief as per the law if he failed to appear before the court on March 13, the Dawn reported.
