Even as the Supreme Court ordered the “immediate release” of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan—while retaining him in its “custody”—authorities continued their crackdown against the party’s leadership, arresting several of them over the past 24 hours.
Early on Friday morning, Islamabad Police raided the residence of senior PTI leader Shireen Mazari, taking her into custody under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO). “Our [Senior Vice-President] Dr. Shireen Mazari is being abducted at this precise moment. Police have also entered with guns her home, reaching a new low. Extremely shameful!” the PTI wrote on Twitter. Mazari’s daughter, Imaan Hazir-Mazari, also shared a video on Twitter that appeared to show plainclothes men forcefully entering their home to arrest the former minister.
In a separate posting, she claimed that roughly 50 cops carrying firearms had entered the residence to detain her mother. This claim, however, was not reflected in a subsequent video, which showed a handful of police, including female officers, placing Mazari under arrest. In the video, Mazari raises a victory sign, declaring “victory for democracy,” as she is into a police vehicle.
Later on Friday, the PTI announced that the party’s Central Punjab President Dr. Yasmin Rashid had been arrested by police while she was preparing to travel to Islamabad for a planned rally. “They think they can stop this movement by these arrests, they don’t know that Pakistan has changed forever. We are all Imran Khan now,” it wrote on Twitter.
PTI leader Andaleeb Abbas, separately, confirmed that the former Punjab minister had been in hiding to evade arrest, as she has been booked in a number of cases, including the ransacking and arson at the Lahore Corps Commander’s home by party supporters. “Police had taken her close family members into custody two days ago but her husband was released after his health deteriorated. Her brother-in-law is still in police custody,” Abbas added.
A day earlier, police also detained PTI leaders Ali Mohammad Khan and Senator Ejaz Chaudhry under Section 3 of the MPO. They have been detained at Adiala Jail after a medical examination, said authorities. Ali Afzal Sahi, a PTI leader from Punjab, was also arrested. In a statement, Islamabad Police said it had thus far detained 298 people involved in “arson and malicious acts.” It said 16 cases had been registered for arson and damage to private and government property, adding that more arrests were planned.
The crackdown on the PTI’s leadership was launched a day after the party staged riots nationwide against the arrest of Imran Khan by NAB in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust case. While Khan was “released” by the Supreme Court, which declared his arrest “illegal,” he remains in the apex court’s custody until he can be presented before the Islamabad High Court.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, in multiple media appearances on Thursday night, vowed that if Khan did not secure bail in all cases pending against him, the government would arrest him again.