LAHORE: Punjab Caretaker Information Minister Aamir Mir said on Wednesday night that the provincial government has no plan yet to arrest Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.
“First let the 24-hour deadline expire and then the government will reveal its plans,” the provincial minister said.
The deadline expires at 2pm on Thursday and no action will be taken at Khan’s Zaman Park residence before then, reportedly due to the PTI chief’s fear of his arrest.
“Maybe my last tweet before my next arrest. Police have surrounded my house,” the PTI chief – who was ousted as prime minister in April last year – said in a tweet.
میری اگلی گرفتاری سے قبل شاید یہ میری آخری ٹویٹ ہو کیونکہ پولیس میری رہائشگاہ کا محاصرہ کر چکی ہے۔https://t.co/jsGck6vdGR
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) May 17, 2023
Mir added that Khan was inciting people, “as always”. The Information Minister said that the PTI chief is lying.
The minister added that the police “will not carry out the operation” and that he has evidence that 30-40 “terrorists” – who were involved in the attacks on military installations on May 9 – are in Zaman Park.
“It is possible that Khan may ask these people to leave Zaman Park, when they do, we will arrest them,” he said, adding that all agencies noted in their reports that “terrorist” Khan are present at the residence.
In his presser earlier in the day, the minister had given PTI a 24-hour deadline to hand over to the police “30-40 terrorists sheltering” the former prime minister’s Lahore residence.
The Minister said that PTI should hand over these terrorists otherwise the law will take its course. He added that the government was aware of the presence of these “terrorists” because it had reliable intelligence reports.
Situation
JEE News reporter, who was in Zaman Park, said the PTI chief allowed media access to his residence.
“The reason for allowing the media to look at their residence is to show them to the people there,” the reporter said, adding that the information minister’s claim that several terrorists were inside the residence could not be verified. are present.
He added that several PTI workers had also reached Zaman Park after the information minister warned that an “operation” would be launched after 24 hours.
Malik added that security has been tightened at Zaman Park, only those whose names have been approved are allowed inside.
He added that the authorities have cordoned off the areas leading to Zaman Park and the workers could not reach the residence if they were on bikes.
He added that since the police stopped the movement, the resistance that was witnessed last time is not expected this time.
Crack down
PTI leaders and workers have been arrested one after the other after resorting to violent protests following the arrest of the party chief on May 9, which also saw an attack on the general headquarters.
Thousands of activists and top leaders including Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar and Shireen Mazari have been arrested under Section 3 of Maintenance of Public Order.
The crackdown came as authorities vowed to bring all gangsters to justice, with the military determined to ensure such incidents do not happen again.
The army and the government have decided that those involved in attacks on defense installations will be prosecuted under the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act.
However, the PTI has distanced itself from attacks on military installations and said it supports the armed forces.
