ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust Case by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) outside the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday, which triggered protests across the country.
بریکنگ
عمران خان کو رینجرز نے گرفتار کرلیا pic.twitter.com/HuXB0x5oNi— MM News (@mmnewsdottv) May 9, 2023
The PTI Chairman had reached Islamabad High Court to get bail in two cases when heavy contingent of Rangers surrounded his vehicle and arrested him, according to latest reports received by MM News.
PTI workers, who had gathered with the party chief as he made a court appearance, were reportedly injured after a ruckus with law-enforcement personnel over the arrest.
Footage showed Imran being taken away in a vehicle, leaving behind the wheelchair he used since being shot in the leg last year.
Senior PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry tweeted that Rangers had ‘occupied’ Islamabad High Court, subject lawyers to torture and surrounded Khan’s vehicle.
اسلام آباد ہائی کورٹ میں عمران خان کا وکیل زخمی pic.twitter.com/jjUrKrUjNZ
— Muhammad Faizan Khan (@FaizanFayzi) May 9, 2023
Video posted by local journalist shows Khan’s guards badly injured in what had been reported as ‘torture by Rangers’
عمران خان کے گارڈز زخمی۔۔!!! pic.twitter.com/ffLMINcS1V
— Mughees Ali (@mugheesali81) May 9, 2023
“Other videos that surfaced online show Rangers personnel breaking the glass windows of IHC, grabbing Khan by the collar and quickly taking him away from the IHC premises.”
Rangers behaving like terrorist thugs – that too, in premises of a Constitutional Court. Complete impunity. pic.twitter.com/uvQ30AprhT
— Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir (@ImaanZHazir) May 9, 2023
کبھی کسی نے ان کو دشمن سے لڑتے دیکھا ہے ؟ نہیں دیکھا تو آج دیکھ لیں ۔۔ بڑے تمغے ملنے ہیں اس پر ۔۔
pic.twitter.com/OfGNsZQxH2— Imran Afzal Raja (@ImranARaja1) May 9, 2023
The arrest of Khan from the IHC premises irked Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, who summoned IG Islamabad and Secretary Interior within 15 minutes, adding that he would summon Prime Minister if these two fail to appear.
Almost an hour later, an arrest warrant surfaced online purporting to show that Khan had been arrested by NAB in Al-Qadir Trust case.
عمران خان کے وارنٹ گرفتاری pic.twitter.com/RTIFaxYEsa
— MM News (@mmnewsdottv) May 9, 2023
Following his arrest, the PTI asked party supporters to take to the streets as it termed the party’s chief’s detainment an “illegitimate” move.
In Lahore, a heavy load of traffic was reported on major highways, due to which commuters faced difficulties.
According to City Traffic Police Lahore, Canal Road, Liberty Chowk, Shanghai Pull, GPO Chowk, Akbar Chowk, Mall Road bridge, Mughapura, Dharampur, Sundardas Road, and others are currently closed due to protests.
Meanwhile, in Karachi, PTI workers started protests at different locations and blocking the roads.
According to the Karachi Police, the Nursery Main Highway has been blocked by the protesters.
The city police advised the commuters to take alternative routes from Baloch Colony to Mehmoodabad, from Tipu Sultan Burj to the Airport via U-turn, and from Sindhi Muslim to Allahwali Chowrangi.
Similarly, PTI workers are protesting at the Koral and Khanna Stops of the Islamabad Expressway.
The Capital Police has advised commuters to take alternative routes of Lehtrar Road and Peshawar Road.
