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In a late-night ruling, the Supreme Court announced the arrest of Imran V Qader Trust case legal after Chief Justice Aamer Farooq summoned senior administration officials to explain why the former prime minister was arrested from the court building. Imran has been in the Supreme Court for hearings in cases unrelated to the one in which he and his wife allegedly took bribes to help a company launder 50 billion rupees ($239 million) through a trust.
Supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have flooded the streets of cities and towns across the country in a backlash of shock and horror against the arrest of their party chief on the basis of an arrest warrant issued on May 1 by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chief Lieutenant General Nazir Ahmed in the case. A party supporter was killed in Quetta and several others, including policemen, were injured in the riots.
Armed individuals took the 70-year-old Imran to the Anti-Corruption Control Office in Rawalpindi after smashing the doors of the High Court building, jumping through shattered windows and scuffled with PTI supporters and lawyers to gain access to him.
“Let it be crystal clear that you, as the former Prime Minister, and currently on trial for corruption, demand legitimacy to overturn the legal and political system,” Prime Minister Shahbaz wrote on Twitter.
Imran Khan arrests live updates
As news spread of Omran’s sensational arrest and the alleged assault on his lawyer, crowds of protesters broke out in the garrison city and elsewhere, with videos circulating on social media showing crowds storming the army’s general headquarters.
And in Islamabad, hundreds of Rescue Kashmir Movement activists blocked Kashmir’s main highway, leaving traffic stuck on both sides of the road. Peshawar saw a crowd set fire to a replica of Jabal Shaghi, which was built as a memorial to the country’s 1998 nuclear test site.
In the southern port city of Karachi, supporters of the movement rioted outside the local party office located along the busy Shahra Faisal Road. Army barricades inside many garrisons were burned. The government has suspended the internet across the country as part of a series of steps to stem rumors and unrest.
Security personnel fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta and other parts of the country until late at night. Section 144, which prohibits demonstrations, failed to keep crowds at bay.
“It’s difficult to predict where this country might go in the next 12 to 48 hours. The atmosphere is stark, murky and very uncertain right now,” said analyst Zeeshan Salahuddin.
Home Minister Rana Sanalla alleged that Imran and his current wife Bushra Bibi Khan received billions from a real estate tycoon to legalize his money laundered from the UK. “The money should have been deposited in the national treasury, but it went to a property registered in the Qadir Trust Fund,” he said in press statements.
The minister said the NAB anti-corruption agency that ordered Imran’s arrest was “an independent institution, and we never tried to control it”.
Imran may have gotten wind of his arrest hours before he left for court. The PTI chief said, “If someone has a warrant, they should bring it directly to me. Bring the warrant, my lawyer will be there. I’m ready to go to jail myself.”
Imran’s lawyer, Gauhar Khan, alleged that the former prime minister was “tortured” in custody. “They hit him on the head and legs,” he said, adding that the PTI chief’s wheelchair was thrown away by the troops.
Jawhar also claimed that the security forces used pepper spray and tear gas during the operation.
Interior Minister Sanaullah contested the allegations. “He (Imran) was not tortured,” he wrote on Twitter.
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