ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan called off his rally in the Pakistani city of Lahore on Wednesday after his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party accused police of killing a Khan supporter during clashes.
The PTI said Ali Bilal, a Khan supporter, was killed while police said two dozen others were arrested for defying the government's ban on holding rallies in the country. Khan planned to kick off his party's campaign for elections in Pakistan's most populous Punjab province and the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province from the Lahore rally today.
The ex-premier, now an opposition leader, was removed from office in April 2022 via a parliamentary vote. Khan has said the movement—spearheaded by his political opponents—was backed by Washington to oust him from office. Both the U.S. and Khan's political rivals have rejected his allegations.
Khan's party and its ally dissolved provincial assemblies in Punjab and KP in January. Both moves were undertaken by Khan to force the government to hold early elections across the country. Last week, President Alvi announced April 30 as the date for elections in Punjab.
A senior leader from Khan’s party, Hammad Azhar, said police detained scores of their supporters ahead of the planned rally, which was to start in Lahore’s upscale Zaman Park area where Khan lives. In a video message shared on social media, Khan accused the government of resorting to violence to "escape" upcoming polls.
"I'm telling my supporters to go to your homes and do not be involved in any anarchy so that they [government] do not have any excuse to run away from elections," he added.
In another Twitter post, Khan said Bilal was unarmed when he was taken into custody by Punjab police. "Pakistan is in the grip of murderous criminals," he wrote. "We will file cases against IG, CCPO & others for murder."
He shared another video of Bilal in which he could be seen inside a police van. "So he was killed while in police custody - such is the murderous bent of the present regime & Punjab police," he wrote.
Lahore police have so far not commented on Bilal's alleged murder. However, in a Twitter post, police said 11 police officers were injured due to violence by PTI supporters.
"Due to violence by PTI supporters, 11 police personnel including two DSPs (deputy superintendant of police) and one SHO (station house office) have been injured," it wrote.
TV footage from earlier in the day showed police firing tear gas shells near Khan's residence and baton-charged supporters of the former prime minister.
The 70-year-old former cricket star is embroiled in a slew of court cases, including terrorism charges raised by the police in various parts of the country. He has so far avoided arrest and claims the legal imbroglio has been orchestrated by the government in an attempt to silence him.
