Islamabad, September 10 (HS). Police took away several MPs of former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who are lodged in Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, from outside the Parliament House after the National Assembly session late on September 9 in Pakistan's capital Islamabad. Raids are being conducted at the hideouts of prominent PTI leaders across the country to nab them. Party leaders Barrister Gauhar Ali Khan, Sher Afzal Khan Marwat and Advocate Shoaib Shaheen have been arrested in Islamabad. Raids are being conducted to arrest more PTI leaders including Umar, Zartaj, Hammad Azhar, Kanwal Shaujab, Naeem Haider Panjutha, Aamir Mughal and Khalid Khurshid.
According to Dawn newspaper, Islamabad Police spokesperson Jawad Taqi has confirmed the arrest of PTI leaders Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Sher Afzal Khan Marwat and lawyer Shoaib Shaheen. It is reported that the police detained Marwat first. Opposition leader Umar Ayub Khan has condemned the arrest of PTI leaders. He alleged that Islamabad Police had formed teams to arrest him, PTI leader Zartaj Gul Wazir and other associates. Umar has written on X that the fascist regime and its supporters have gone completely crazy. PTI leader Zulfi Bukhari has demanded the immediate release of the arrested leaders.
PTI lawyer Ali Ijaz Buttar has said in an ex-post that the Islamabad High Court Bar Association has condemned the arrest of its members Marwat and the association's former president Advocate Shaheen. It is noteworthy that the arrests have been intensified after the much-awaited rally of PTI on September 8 in Islamabad. After this rally, PML-N Senator Talal Chaudhary had said on Monday that action will definitely be taken against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur. It is noteworthy that Gandapur is a big leader of PTI. He is underground after the rally. The root cause of this incident is the change in the venue of the rally.
Police claimed that PTI supporters who came to participate in the rally ignored traffic instructions. They used the route meant for the general public. When stopped, they pelted stones at the soldiers. In retaliation, the police had to resort to lathicharge and tear gas shells. Dozens of protesters were also arrested.
According to ARY News report, an urgent session of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly has been called on Tuesday amid the arrest of PTI leaders. The notification of the Assembly Secretariat said that the meeting has been scheduled at 3 pm. Earlier this meeting was to be held on September 23 but after the arrest of PTI leaders including Speaker Barrister Gauhar Ali, it has been fixed for Tuesday. It is said that a condemnation motion is expected to be brought in this meeting on the arrest.