The arrest follows Khan's conviction in the Toshakhana case, igniting widespread protests and calls for transparency in the legal process.
In a dramatic turn of events, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan's arrest on Saturday has sparked widespread public outrage and protests across the country. The PTI party filed a petition in the Lahore High Court, alleging that Khan's arrest was nothing short of an "abduction at gunpoint" orchestrated by the Punjab police.
Petitioner Umair Niazi, PTI's additional secretary general, urgently requested the court to take up the case without delay and demanded that the Punjab police and government immediately produce the former prime minister before the court to ensure his safety, as PTI reported.
According to Niazi's statements, Imran Khan was attending a meeting at his Zaman Park residence at 12:45 pm when approximately 200 policemen stormed the house and allegedly abducted him at gunpoint, keeping him in "illegal custody" at an undisclosed location. The petitioner further accused the police of not providing any court order regarding Khan's conviction in the Toshakhana case.
Earlier that day, Imran Khan, now 70 years old, was arrested from his Lahore residence after an Islamabad trial court found him guilty in the Toshakhana case and sentenced him to three years in prison.
The situation has escalated further as citizens across Pakistan express their support for Imran Khan, with public demonstrations and protests calling for justice and transparency in the legal proceedings. The Lahore High Court Bar Association has also denounced Khan's conviction, calling it a "slaughter of justice" and a "violation of fair trial laws."