ISLAMABAD: Former federal minister Ali Amin Gandapur, a close aide of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, was arrested in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, the latest in a string of arrests of associates and supporters of the ex-premier.

Thousands of supporters of Khan have been arrested by security officials in recent weeks, his party says, escalating political tensions ahead of national elections this year.

Before Gandapur, other top Khan aides who have had cases registered against them and spent time in jail in recent months before posting bail include Chaudhary Fawad Hussain, a former federal minister, Dr Shahbaz Gill, Khan’s chief of staff, and Azam Swati, senior vice president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

“Today complete law of the jungle prevails in Pak,” the former premier said on Twitter after Gandapur’s arrest. “PDM [ruling coalition] & handlers have a one point agenda - that is to go after PTI workers & leadership. It was decided preemptively to arrest Ali Amin Gandapur despite bails. But they will still be decimated in the elections InshaAllah.”

Gandapur was arrested by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial police outside the Dera Ismael Khan (DI Khan) bench of the Peshawar High Court (PHC). Police have not disclosed in which case he has been picked up.

Khan was removed from power last April in a parliamentary no-trust vote and Shehbaz Sharif, a rival, replaced him as the prime minister of a new multi-party unity government in Islamabad.

Khan says Sharif's administration had since unleashed a crackdown on PTI supporters and social media operators to stifle free speech after blocking opposition coverage on the country's mainstream news channels.

"Currently, 3,100 of our party workers and social media team members are in jails, mostly in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, and in (the capital of) Islamabad," Khansaid in a televised speech earlier this month.

Since his ouster from the PM’s office, Khan has held massive countrywide rallies to demand early elections. Dozens of legal cases have since been lodged against him on charges that include terrorism, sedition, corruption and contempt.

The opposition leader says all the allegations are politically motivated.