As reports regarding the issuance of PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest warrants surfaced on social media, scores of PTI supporters across the country took to the streets to launch their Countrywide Protest Against the possible arrest of former prime minister, Geo News reported Monday.
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry, Hammad Azhar, Asad Umar, Murad Saeed, Omar Ayub Pervaiz Khattak and thousands of party workers reached Bani Gala and held a sit-in to obstruct Imran Khan’s arrest.
Meanwhile, PTI supporters also gathered in other cities of the country to register their protest against the possible arrest of the former prime minister.
In Lahore, scores of PTI supporters gathered at Liberty Chowk and staged a protest. Similarly, a protest was also held in Gujranwala, Sialkot, and Faisalabad.
In Karachi, PTI supporters launched a protest at Shahrah-e- Faisal near Insaf House, however, after registering the protest, supporters dispersed.
During a protest outside Imran Khan’s Bani Gala residence, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said, “Imran Khan is present in Bani Gala, however, hundreds of PTI supporters have reached here and thousands of supporters are heading towards Bani Gala.
Meanwhile, former defence minister Pervaiz Khattak, after reaching Bani Gala said, “nobody can arrest Imran Khan.”
Police deployed around Bani Gala
Additional police force has been deployed outside Imran Khan’s Bani Gala residence and the road leading to his residence has also been closed for unauthorised people, allowing only people close to him and the residents of the area to enter, sources told Geo News hours after the registration of the case.
According to the The News , it is not yet decided whether Imran Khan would be arrested or put under house arrest, sources engaged in sketching the strategy of the operation told The News.
“Negotiations with Imran Khan are under way, as the PTI leader wants to avoid arrest or house arrest,” added the sources, saying that the authorities have multiple plans to handle the situation with the help of law-enforcement agencies, but were waiting for a green signal from the quarters concerned.
“Imran Khan is seeking the facility to approach the higher judiciary for obtaining relief, but he will have to surrender before the police as the first step,” the sources added.
Case registered against Imran Khan
A day prior, first information report (FIR) was registered against former prime minister Imran Khan under the Anti-Terrorism Act for threatening an additional sessions judge and senior police officers of the Islamabad Police at a rally in the federal capital’s F-9 Park.
The FIR states that the PTI chairman threatened Additional Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry and police officers at a rally in F-9 Park to “terrorise” police officials and judiciary. The main aim of the intimidation was to prevent the police officers and judiciary from carrying out their legal obligations, says the FIR.
