Pakistani security forces withdrew from around Imran Khan’s home in Lahore on Wednesday after a failed bid to arrest him amid large-scale protests by the former prime minister’s supporters, the Dawn reported.
On Tuesday, clashes had broken out between police and supporters of Khan after security forces arrived his home to take him into custody.
A day before, an Islamabad court had issued arrest warrants against Khan in a case filed on charges that he concealed, in his assets declarations, details of the gifts he had retained from the Toshakhana – a repository where presents handed to government officers from foreign officials are kept.
Noting that Khan had skipped several hearings in the case, the judge had directed the police to arrest the former prime minister and present him in court by March 18.
On Wednesday, personnel of the Islamabad Police, Punjab Police and the paramilitary force Rangers resumed their efforts to arrest Khan, only to once again face violent resistance from his supporters. The police had to fired tear gas shells to thwart Khan’s supporters who threw stones at the security forces.
Punjab Inspector General Usman Anwar told the Dawn that since Tuesday, 54 policemen had been seriously injured in the clashes.
A senior police official told Reuters that the operation to arrest Khan has been put on hold in order to divert the forces of a Pakistan Super League scheduled to be played few kilometres away from the former prime minister’s home.
However, supporters and members of Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, celebrated the development claiming that they had chased the security forces away, the Dawn reported.
Meanwhile, the Lahore High Court has barred the police from taking any further action outside Khan’s home till 10 am local time on Thursday. The court was hearing a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, alleging that the security forces were carrying out atrocities.
In a separate petition seeking the cancellation of arrest warrants against Khan, the Islamabad High Court reserved its verdict on Wednesday, the Dawn reported.
Since his ouster as the prime minister in April, the 70-year-old has been booked in several cases, including on charges of corruption. The cricketer-turned-politician, however, has refused to appear before courts, alleging that the cases against him are a plot by his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, to discredit him, according to the Associated Press.
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