ISLAMABAD: Clashes broke out between police and supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan in Lahore on Tuesday as the law enforcers attempted to arrest the ex-premier after the issuance of his non-bailable arrest warrants, with Khan urging his supporters to “come out.”
The development comes a day after an Islamabad court issued Khan’s non-bailable arrest warrants in a case related to the sale of state gifts. A six-member team of Islamabad police is currently visiting Lahore to arrest Khan.
Television footage from outside Khan’s Zaman Park residence in Lahore showed the Punjab police in anti-riot gear backing their Islamabad counterparts and clearing the road of Khan supporters.
Aerial shots showed heavy presence of law enforcement personnel around Khan’s residence and tear gas billowing from shells fired inside his home. Charged supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party could also be seen pelting stones on the police and a number of them being arrested in the process.
PTI workers started the violence that injured several police officials, Amir Mir, caretaker information minister of Punjab that Lahore is a capital of, told the Reuters news agency.
“If Imran Khan ensures his presence in the court, it will be good, otherwise the law will take its course,” Mir said.
Meanwhile, Khan urged his supporters in televised comments to “come out.”
“The police have come to take me [to jail] ... If something happens to me or I go to jail or I am killed, you have to prove that this nation will [continue to] struggle even without Imran Khan,” the former premier said.
Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a senior PTI figure and Khan aide, urged the law enforcers to exercise restraint, adding that “we don’t want bloodshed.” Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, another senior PTI member, said the “confused but fascist” government had launched an operation on Khan’s residence after Monday’s election rally in Lahore.
In a TV interview broadcast Tuesday night, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said this was the first time that a person had defied the judiciary in such a manner, yet he continued to get relief.
“The courts have issued the arrest warrants, not me or my government,” Sharif said, when asked if Khan’s arrest would increase political instability.
“If the [Punjab] administration does not follow the court’s orders then what will happen?”
Apart from the Toshakhana case, the ex-premier has been booked in over 70 different cases on various charges, including blasphemy, terrorism and sedition, since being ousted from power last April. He has been avoiding arrest in all the cases by seeking relief from various courts.
“Our six-member police team is already in Lahore to arrest the former prime minister as per the court orders,” Taqi Jawad, an Islamabad police spokesperson, told Arab News on Tuesday.
“We have been following the legal procedure,” he said, adding it was the police’s responsibility to act on court orders.
Jawad declined to give any specific details about when or how the police wanted to arrest the former prime minister from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore. Khan’s supporters have erected barriers outside his home and set up makeshift camps to stop law enforcement agencies from detaining him.
In the case involving the sale of state gifts – popularly called the Toshakhana reference – a district court on Monday restored the former prime minister’s non-bailable arrest warrants due to his continuous absence from the court.
Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq directed Khan to appear before the court on March 13 in the case, but the ex-PM failed to comply while citing security reasons.
The court rejected Khan’s exemption plea and directed the police to present him in court on March 18.
“We will be following the court orders to ensure the accused’s presence in the court,” the police spokesperson said.
