Police officers patrol a street during a protest by supporters of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan against his arrest in Peshawar, Pakistan. (Image: Reuters)
Shireen Mazari, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhary have been detained as police believe they are inciting violence.
Police in major cities of Pakistan, including the capital Islamabad, invoked the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance and arrested several leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Senior leaders Yasmin Rashid and Shireen Mazari were also arrested on Friday.
Pakistani authorities also put leader Khalid Khurshid under house arrest. “The arrests were made as part of a well-planned plan to incite arson and disturb the peace leading to violent protests,” the Islamabad police said in a statement.
It is not clear where these two leaders are currently being held by law enforcement authorities.
A report in Dawn said that senior leaders Asad Umar, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Ejaz Choudhary, Qasim Suri, Ali Mohammad Khan and Fawad Choudhary were also arrested under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance.
The report further stated that Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhary, Malika Bukhari, Falak Naz and Jamshed Cheema and his wife were sent to jail along with over 150 PTI members. They will be under house arrest for a month.
Reports say that top PTI officials have been kept in Adiala Jail.
The party’s protesters attempted to attack the Pakistan Army headquarters in Rawalpindi earlier this week following the arrest of Imran Khan, and the distance between the two sites is about 15 km.
There is a boil in Pakistan after the arrest of Imran Khan.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court said on Thursday that the pre-arrest of the Prime Minister from the court premises was illegal and ordered his immediate release but said he was not at all free and would have to appear before the High Court on Friday.
After the arrest of Imran Khan, more than 11 people have died in the clashes that broke out in all the major cities of Pakistan.
Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial asked Imran Khan to order his party workers to stop the riots and protest peacefully.
Imran Khan was arrested earlier this week by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on charges related to corruption in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Following his arrest on Tuesday, Pakistan witnessed widespread violence on Wednesday and Thursday as public property was torched, PTI workers clashed with police and the Internet was shut down to ease tensions.
Pakistan is bracing for more unrest as Imran Khan appears in the Islamabad High Court.
