Imran Khan Arrest LIVE Updates: Pakistani police kept up their siege around the home of Imran Khan as a 24-hour deadline given to the former PM to hand over suspects ‘sheltered inside’ was about to expire on Thursday. The siege and the authorities’ demand for the suspects, wanted in violent protests over Khan’s recent detention, has angered the former prime minister’s supporters and is raising concerns about more clashes between them and the security forces.
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Imran Khan was freed from custody over the weekend and returned to his home in an upscale district of Lahore. Dozens of his supporters have been staying there with him, along with private guards. Police, who on Wednesday surrounded the residence, say they want 40 suspects handed over. The ultimatum for Khan ends at 2 p.m. local time.
Punjab caretaker Information Minister Amir Mir said that the provincial government has no plans so far of arresting Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan before the 24-hour deadline expires at 2 pm on Thursday. “First let the 24-hour deadline expire then the government will reveal its plans,” the provincial minister told Geo News. Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday claimed that the police have surrounded his house in Lahore for another arrest. Punjab Police reached outside the PTI chairman’s Zaman Park residence to arrest him and cordoned to his residence.
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In a tweet, he claimed, “Probably my last tweet before my next arrest.” Khan also urged its supporters to reach Zaman Park.
Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah warned that the relief Imran Khan has got from the Supreme Court “will not last for long”. He said on Wednesday that the former prime minister could be arrested after midnight — once his protective bail expired.
The latest dramatic move of Punjab Police came after the Punjab government gave the PTI leadership 24 hours to hand over ‘30-40 terrorists holed up in Zaman Park’ residence of Imran Khan.
The Interim Punjab Government gave a 24-hour ultimatum to Khan’s party to hand them over the miscreants to the government and a green signal to the police to conduct a grand operation in the Zaman Park residence.
The Punjab police seemed to have backed off from Imran Khan’s residence after the drama that unfolded on Wednesday night, according to Dawn.
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PTI Chairman Imran Khan said that there is no question of him leaving the country and that he would stay in Pakistan “until my last breath”.
Hours after the Punjab police cordoned off Khan’s Lahore residence, PTI supporters began gathering outside Zaman Park.
Imran Khan’s arrest and the violence that followed last week has deepened political instability in the South Asian nation of 220 million. Islamabad has been facing its worst-ever economic crisis, with a long delay in securing IMF funding critical to avert a balance of payment crisis.
