Pakistan’s former prime minister, Imran Khan was arrested on Tuesday as his workers clashed with riot police, in a move likely to further increase the political turmoil in the nation.
Close aide, former information minister and a senior official with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, Fawad Chaudhry said Imran Khan was arrested by agents from the National Accountability Bureau, the country’s anti-corruption body.
Khan, 72, was arrested from the premises of Islamabad High Court where he was supposed to appear in connection with a bail application.
Shortly after Khan entered through the gate of the Islamabad high court, contingents of paramilitary forces and armoured personnel carriers entered after him. The gate was blocked by the armoured vehicles and Khan was whisked away under heavy security.
Chaudhry said Khan was dragged out of the court and into a police vehicle. He said the former premier is now in the custody of the security forces. He denounced the arrest as “an abduction”.
A security official said Khan has been arrested in one of the many corruption charges he faces.
Khan, who came to power after a disputed election in 2018, was removed by parliament in April last through a no-confidence vote and has since faced a slew of legal challenges. He has since campaigned against the government of his successor, Shehbaz Sharif, demanding early elections.
After the former premier was whisked away, a scuffle broke out between Khan’s supporters and police leading to some of Khan’s lawyers and supporters being injured, as were several policemen.
Khan’s party immediately complained to the Islamabad high court, which requested a police report explaining the charges for Khan’s arrest.
Officials from the anti-corruption body said that Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau had issued arrest warrants for Khan last week in a separate graft case, for which he had not obtained bail which would have protected him from arrest under the country’s laws.
The officials said Khan will be brought to appear before an anti-corruption tribunal later on Tuesday.
There were no other official statements from the government on Khan’s arrest.
Khan had arrived in Islamabad earlier in the day from the nearby city of Lahore, where he resides, to face charges before the Islamabad high court in multiple corruption cases against him.
He has claimed that the string of cases against him, which include terrorism charges, are a plot Sharif’s government to discredit the former cricket star turned Islamist politician.
