A government spokesman and witnesses say Pakistani police and Imran Khan supporters clashed outside the former prime minister’s Lahore home on Tuesday, hurting dozens ahead of his expected arrest.
According to party videos, police baton-charged Khan supporters and threw tear gas canisters, some of which fell on Khan’s property.
Local Geo TV showed a chopper over the house and said the internet was out.
“We will arrest Imran Khan today and present him in court,” claimed Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah during a public gathering broadcast on local TV channels.
Fawad Chaudhry, Khan’s assistant, told Reuters that a lower trial court in Islamabad issued an arrest order for Khan for illegally selling official gifts from 2018 to 2022.
Khan aide Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters the former prime minister received “protective bail” from a court.
“The cops cannot arrest Imran Khan,” he replied.
Since his parliamentary defeat early last year, Khan has held nationwide protests calling for a speedy election. Shehbaz Sharif, his successor, rejected that demand and indicated the vote would happen later this year.
One rally shot Khan.
Amir Mir, a government spokesperson, told Reuters that Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers initiated the violence.
“Imran Khan should appear in court, otherwise the law will take its course.”
Khan urged people to defend the law.
“Police have come to arrest and put me to jail,” he stated in a Twitter video. “If something happens to me, or they jail me, or they kill me, you’ve got to prove that this nation will struggle even without Imran Khan.”
Mir said the administration deployed paramilitary soldiers to quell the incident. However, last week saw similar clashes.
“We came here to comply with the court order,” deputy inspector general of police Syed Shahzad Nadeem told reporters.
Khan’s followers threw stones and bricks at police, who responded with water cannons and baton charges, he added.
Khan fans used slingshots, bricks, and sticks to attack cops on TV.
Khan has faced many court cases since his dismissal.
A few of Khan’s fans blocked roads in other cities to protest his likely arrest.
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