According to police sources, Pakistani police on Monday evening arrested hundreds of supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan ahead of a mass rally planned by his party in Islamabad. Imran Khan was ousted on April 10 by a memorandum of no confidence. His Pakistan Justice Movement party has since been trying to mobilize the street to increase pressure on the fragile coalition government to push for early legislative elections.
“More than 200 supporters of the movement in Punjab have been arrested… We ransacked homes and arrested many of them,” a police officer in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, told AFP. Another police officer confirmed the information, also refusing to give his name, explaining that these people were arrested on charges of violating public safety and are still under arrest.
Fuad Chaudhry, a former information minister in the Tehreek-e-Insaf government, accused the police of carrying out unsanctioned raids and arresting more than 400 people. Officially, the police did not comment on this information.
Source: El Nashra