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Published: 18 March 2023
An arrest warrant against Imran Khan has been cancelled, after a drama-filled day in which Pakistani police used a bulldozer to break into the former Pakistani Prime Minister's House.
Edited by|Tony wild
Asia section- CJ journalist
18 march 2023 - Lahore
The ex-cricketing star had been facing arrest for skipping several court hearings over charges that he failed to declare gifts received during his time as premier, or the profit made from selling them.
The 70-year-old has been tangled in a slew of court cases since he was ousted in a no-confidence motion last April.
He has been pressuring the fragile coalition government which replaced him to hold early elections despite being disqualified from parliament in October for making “false statements and incorrect declarations” regarding the gifts.
This week saw Mr Khan’s supporters fighting pitched battles with police who were sent to arrest him at his home in the eastern city of Lahore after he failed to appear in court once again.
On Saturday he finally travelled to the Islamabad court complex but was unable to get out of his car after around 4,000 supporters turned up and pelted police officers with stones and bricks. Officers responded with tear gas.
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The court accepted Mr Khan’s attendance, however, according to his lawyers.
“All those who have gathered here should disperse. There is no need for shelling or pelting, the hearing cannot be held today,” said presiding judge Zafar Iqbal.
The court adjourned the case until March 30 and ordered Mr Khan to be present in person again.
It came as dozens of supporters of the former prime minister were arrested back in Lahore after police violently raided Mr Khan’s Zaman Park residence just minutes after he left.
Hundreds of officers in riot gear cordoned off the area and bulldozered the main entrance to break into the fortified compound.
Inside, police found masks, petrol-filled bottles, iron rods and batons, according to senior police officer Suhail Sukhera, who led the operation.
Nearly 70 members of Mr Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek Insan (PTI) were beaten and whisked away to police stations.
Lahore High Court granted permission to police to search the Zaman Park residence as part of an investigation into attacks on police units earlier this week.
“The police went in heavily armed, they broke through the front door, and broke the walls of the house .. as if they were going to attack the enemy combatant,” said Dr Shireen Mazari, an aide to the politician.
“Police forced their way into Imran’s house without any arrest warrant. They ransacked the house and thrashed the people inside,” added Dr Uzma Khanum, Mr Khan’s sister.
During his road trip to Islamabad, Mr Khan said in a video message that the government had planned his arrest despite knowing he was travelling to a hearing.
He said police had broken into his residence in Lahore while his wife was alone at the home. He has since filed a contempt case against the police, saying the raid was illegal.
“Punjab police have led an assault on my house in Zaman Park where Bushra Begum [his wife] is alone. Under what law are they doing this? This is part of the London Plan where commitments were made to bring absconder Nawaz Sharif to power as quid pro quo for agreeing to one appointment,” he said.
Mr Khan has repeatedly claimed that he is facing an ongoing conspiracy to keep him out of power by his successor, Shahbaz Sharif, Mr Sharif’s brother and former prime minister Nawaz, and the United States. Both Washington and Sharif’s government have denied the allegations.
