Punjab Police and members of the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) clashed on Wednesday night, as cops launched a crackdown on the party’s headquarters in a bid to arrest its chief Saad Rizvi ahead of a planned march on Islamabad.
The TLP has announced plans for an anti-Israel demonstration outside the U.S. embassy in Islamabad on Oct. 10 (Friday). Ahead of the protest, Rawalpindi police have beefed up security across the city to deal with any untoward situation, while the Islamabad administration has begun placing shipping containers at Faizabad Interchange.
Rawalpindi Police have warned that they would not tolerate any road blockades, disruptions to traffic, or violent activities under the pretext of protest. In Islamabad, orders have been issued to vacate hotels along Murree Road and in nearby areas.
In Lahore, police raided the TLP’s central office to arrest Rizvi but met resistance from enraged party supporters, who attacked them with stones and iron rods. Police responded with tear-gas, with videos shared on social media showing TLP workers running from the shelling. Other clips, which could not be independently verified, showed TLP activists holding up spent bullet casings and tear gas shells and claiming law enforcers had open live ammunition on them.
In a statement, the TLP claimed several of its workers had been arrested from their homes. It also claimed at least four workers had died in the clashes, but this could not be verified.
The clashes also saw three police constables injured. Police have since beefed up their numbers on Multan Road, with a large deployment armed with riot gear gathered outside the TLP’s central office.
According to local media, the group had urged its supporters to gather in Lahore before proceeding to Islamabad as a “long” march. Police said these elements had targeted them when they raided the TLP office.