Pakistan: Massive unrest after Imran Khan's supporters clash with police trying to arrest former PM
Pakistan Police and supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan clashed outside his residence in Lahore overnight ahead of his possible arrest.
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Lahore, Mar 15: Massive unrest prevails in Pakistan after police failed to arrest the ousted prime minister Imran Khan's residence in the Zaman Park area here on Tuesday. Police faced fierce resistance from the PTI supporters despite tear gas and water cannons to keep the police personnel at bay in more than 11 hours of operation.
At Tuesday night, the influx of a large number of supporters into Zaman Park forced security men to retreat. By midnight, police had suffered around 30 casualties. Geo News reported that at least 15 PTI men had also been detained by the police.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan has accused the federal government of planning his arrest according to a "London plan" to finish all cases against the country's former premier Nawaz Sharif. In a video message, Khan said, "This is part of the London plan and an agreement has been signed there to put Imran in jail, make the PTI fall and finish all cases against Nawaz Sharif."
He further stated that he doesn't understand the reason behind the attack on people as he had already assured that he will be present in court on March 18.
The former prime minister said that to prevent any chaos, he had given an undertaking to the Lahore High Court Bar Association president who then attempted to forward it to the DIG who was coming to arrest him but the DIG did not meet the Bar president.
The protests broke out in Islamabad, Peshawar, and Karachi after Imran Khan called on his supporters to "come out" following police's use of tear gas and a water cannon on supporters outside Zaman Park, where the PTI party chairman was holed up in his house. The events in Zaman Park did not escape the notice of Mr Khan's supporters across the country, and several cities saw protests by PTI workers.