Lahore: More than 10,000 policemen carried out a major operation at Imran Khan’s Zaman Park residence here and arrested dozens of his party workers, while Pakistan’s former prime minister is in Islamabad to attend a corruption case hearing. Police personnel removed barricades from the entrance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chief’s residence and removed all the camps set up by PTI workers to protect their leader. During the operation, reportedly around 10 workers were injured and over 30 were arrested. Footage on social media showed police thrashing PTI workers after entering Khan’s residence, where the 70-year-old leader claimed his wife Bushra Bibi was also present. Punjab’s caretaker government’s information minister Aamir Mir told reporters that a police operation has been launched to clear the Zaman Park area.
He said, “Zaman Park had become a no-go zone. 10,000 men of the Punjab Police took part in the operation to clear it. We also had reports that members of banned organizations were also hesitating there.”
Police arrive at Imran Khan’s residence in Lahore as the former Pakistan PM is scheduled to appear in an Islamabad court in connection with the hearing of the Toshakhana case.
According to the report of Pakistan’s Geo News, Punjab Police has arrested more than 20 workers of the party. pic.twitter.com/0zhcKGtT8x– ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2023
The minister further said that several PTI workers have been detained. During the operation, Mir said that three policemen and six PTI workers were injured.
He said that the police had a search warrant for Imran Khan’s residence. “The police entered his house only after an anti-terrorism court had issued a search warrant for Khan’s residence,” he said.
Condemning the police operation, the ousted prime minister tweeted: “(As I left for Islamabad to attend the Toshakhana hearing) meanwhile the Punjab Police raided my house in Zaman Park where Bushra Begum is alone. ”
‘Under what law are they doing this’ is part of the London plan where a commitment was made to bring fugitive Nawaz Sharif to power in return for agreeing to an appointment.
Khan said in a video message that the present government wanted to put him in jail on the demand of its exiled leader Nawaz Sharif. He said, “They wanted to conduct elections by sending me to jail. They have been completely exposed.”
Today’s action The Lahore High Court on Friday accepted a request by Punjab IGP Dr Usman Anwar to search Khan’s Zaman Park residence as part of the probe into attacks on police teams, Dawn newspaper reported.
Khan also tweeted that the siege of Lahore was not to ensure his presence in the court but was aimed at imprisoning him and preventing him from leading the PTI’s election campaign.
The PTI leader has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch received as a premier at a discounted price from a state depository called Toshakhana, and selling them for profit.
Established in 1974, Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats and officials by other governments and heads of state and foreign dignitaries.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) tweeted, “They are now trying to enter the chairman’s (Imran Khan) house where only Bhusra Bibi is present. We don’t see such acts even in martial law.” Are.”
(Pic-screengrab from video tweeted by PTI) https://t.co/MleDnP5GVL pic.twitter.com/9thavuNzpI– ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2023
Khan was disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan in October last year for not sharing details of the sale.
The election body later filed a complaint with the district court to punish him under criminal laws for selling gifts he had received as the country’s prime minister.
Khan, who has vehemently denied the allegations, is set to be indicted in the case.
Meanwhile, the Islamabad Police has issued a traffic advisory, stating that due to the tight security measures around the judicial complex at G-11, there may be difficulty in the movement of traffic, causing inconvenience to citizens.
The Islamabad administration imposed Section 144 in the capital on Friday night, barring private companies, security guards or individuals from carrying weapons. It is mandatory for the drivers to carry the registration documents of their vehicles while driving.