Authorities entered the residence of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and said they found illegal structures and weapons used in attacks against police. There will be more missions.
pakistani police broke into former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s residencein the east of the country, and arrested 61 people, in an operation that involved tear gas and sparked clashes with Khan supporters.
Police chief Suhail Sukhera, who led the operation in an exclusive neighborhood of Lahore city, said authorities acted on Saturday to remove barricades erected by members of Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party. Sukhera said supporters of the former prime minister had blocked the streets around Imran Khan’s residence with cement blocks, felled trees, tents and a truck.
EITHER the former head of state was not at home, after having traveled to the capital, Islamabad, where, hours before, he had appeared before the court to answer to the accusations of corruption. Khan, 70, was released after the court revoked a warrant for his arrest, his lawyers said. The hearing was postponed to March 30.
Suhail Sukhera said that supporters of Imran Khan, armed with batons, they tried to resist the police by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, and that a man also fired a firearm from the roof of the house. At least three police officers were injured.
Sukhera said police found automatic weapons, iron bars and batons inside the house used in attacks on police over the past week. The manager added that Illegal structures were built inside the residence. to shelter the people involved in the attacks, in which dozens of officers were injured.
Pakistani Home Minister Rana Sanaullah later said police would conduct a thorough search of Imran Khan’s house as they suspected more illegal weapons and ammunition were being hidden.
Pakistan Election Commission accused Khan of failing to declare gifts he received during his tenure as prime minister, nor the profits obtained from its sale, accusations that the target denies. The politician accuses the Pakistani authorities of having devised a plan to arrest him so that he cannot stand in the elections, scheduled for October.
Removed from power by motion of no confidence, in April 2022, Khan is putting pressure on the fragile coalition government who succeeded him in organizing early elections.
Source: Observadora
