Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan and 1,500 of his party workers have been booked by the Punjab police for attacking and setting on fire a top army officer's house in Lahore. The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief's supporters stormed the General Headquarters of the Army after Khan was arrested in a corruption case on Tuesday.
They set the residence of the Lahore Corps Commander on fire while attacking military vehicles and installations. Khan and his deputy Shah Mahmood Qureshi have been charged with murder, terrorism, and 20 other heinous offences for attacking the Corps Commander House. They have also been accused of looting valuables worth over 150 million rupees. According to the FIR filed on Wednesday, two people were killed in the attack.
Khan's arrest sparked widespread violent protests across Pakistan, leaving at least eight people dead and nearly 300 others injured in clashes between protesters and law enforcement agencies. The PTI supporters have held the army responsible for Khan's arrest. Separately, the Punjab police registered dozens of FIRs against the PTI leadership and workers for injuring police officials, damaging and looting public property, and raising "highly objectionable" slogans against the Pakistan Army.
The police named 1,200 PTI workers for killing a man while setting on fire and ransacking Askari Tower, which is reportedly owned by the son of former army chief Gen (retd.) Qamar Javed Bajwa. The protesters also set ablaze Shadman police station in Lahore, but their attempt to enter the Governor House and the Chief Minister Secretariat in Lahore was foiled by the police and Rangers.
Meanwhile, the police have claimed that they have arrested Khan's 76 supporters who attacked the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. An FIR has also been registered against 300 miscreants, including PTI's main regional leader Bashart Raja.
According to the Punjab police, over 1,400 people have been arrested across the province in the wake of widespread violence.
(With PTI Inputs)
