The Punjab Police on Saturday raided the house of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan shortly after he left for Islamabad to appear before a court in the Toshkhana case.
Now, the police has left the area and the operation is reportedly over.
According to media reports, several things have been discovered by the police at Khan’s residence.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah claimed that police found 16 rifles, arms, bombs and a bomb-making factory in Zaman Park.
He said that Inspector General (IG) will bring all proofs before the nation.
In a video, which is being shared on Twitter, police can be seen picking up sanitary pads.
Moreover, the bottles that were used to make petrol bombs have been found along with marbles, slingshots, five kalashnikovs and bullets, reportsGeo News.
Reacting to this news, PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry took a jibe at the police and said that “Cannon, tank shells, anti-aircraft and cocaine, and petrol bombs were recovered from Imran Khan’s residence. But Imran Khan took tanks and cannons with him.”
عمران خان کی رہائش گاہ سے توپ، ٹینک کے گولے اینٹی ائیر کرافٹ اور کوکین، چرس اور پٹرول بم برآمد۔۔ ٹینک اور توپیں عمران خان ساتھ لے گئے تھے۔۔۔ IG Punjab کی متوقع پریس کانفرنس
To refute the claims made by the government, he in another tweet claimed “that the police has taken food and drinks from the fridge and not even left the biscuits.”
According to him, a hundred thousand watches have been also taken from the pockets of the employees.
زمان پارک سے پولیس کھانے پینے کا سامان، فریج سے جوس تک اٹھا کر لے گئ ہے ، بسکٹ تک نہیں چھوڑے ملازمتیں کی جیبوں سے پانچ سو ہزار گھڑیاں سب لے گئے ہیں، یہ ہے سرچ وارنٹ مکمل نقصان کا اندازہ لگا کر پرچہ دیں گے
Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique has lashed out at Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, calling him “Dracula”.
The minister started off by saying that his party leaders “never shed a tear or created drama when the court asked them to appear”, however, he was of the view that “Khan pressurised the courts.”
He said that police reached Imran Khan’s residence in Zaman Park on the court’s order with arrest warrants. Emphasising that the police was unarmed except for shields, Rafique said that PTI loyalists injured not only the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) but also 65 other officers.
“Imran hasn’t done it for the first time, he has become Dracula”, said the minister.
He also claimed that there are some people within the establishment, judiciary and media who are still in Khan’s favour.
It is pertinent to mention here that since Tuesday the Islamabad police and Rangers have been trying to arrest Imran but failed to do so.
The police arrived with Khan’s arrest warrant which was issued by a court in Islamabad on Monday, March 13, due to his continuous absence from the hearings of the Toshakhana case. The court had also directed police to present the ex-premier in court by March 18.
A case was registered against Khan that he hadn’t disclosed gifts that he received and was supposed to deposit in Toshkahana before selling them. Despite the court’s numerous warnings, Khan didn’t appear before the judge.
Islamabad High Court (IHC) has stopped police from arresting Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.
The court has said that Khan should be given a chance to present himself before the Islamabad sessions court which issued the non-bailable arrest warrants for Khan and directed the police to present him before them on March 18 (Saturday).
Imran en route to LHC to offer assurance that he will go to Islamabad tomorrow
Khan will also present himself before the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday afternoon (today) to assure the judge that he will appear before the Islamabad sessions court — which has issued non-bailable arrest warrants for him— tomorrow.
It is pertinent to mention here that since Tuesday the Islamabad police and Rangers have been trying to arrest Imran failed to do so.
The police arrived with Khan’s arrest warrant which was issued by a court in Islamabad on Monday, March 13, due to his continuous absence from the hearings of the Toshakhana case. The court had also directed police to present the ex-premier in court by March 18.
A case was registered against Khan that he hadn’t disclosed gifts that he received and was supposed to deposit in Toshkahana before selling them. Despite the court’s numerous warnings, Khan didn’t appear before the judge.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Fawad Chaudhry has claimed that party chairman Imran Khan is open to negotiating with the incumbent government.
اعظم نذیر تارڑ روز بیان دے رہے ہیں کہ مل کر بیٹھیں اور مسائل کا حل کریں وزیر اعظم شہباز شریف نے بھی بات چیت کا کہا ہے اس عمل کو بیان سے آگے بھی بڑھائیں اور جماعتوں کو ملنے کی تاریخ اور مقام دیں عمران خان پہلے ہی مذاکرات کی حمایت کر چکے ہیں
He said that Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and Law Minister Azam Tarar had stressed on holding talks and PTI welcomes these developments.
“I hope Shehbaz Sharif will invite PTI for talks on the elections schedule. However, we have one proviso: we will not discuss their corruption cases and those have to be out of talks,” said Chaudhry.
Moreover, Pakistan Bar Council urged all the political parties to set aside their differences and talk in order to solve the disputes which have plunged the country into a constitutional crisis.
The bar council said that “they are “ready to call/arrange All Parties Conference (APC) and invite all the central leadership of parliamentary parties to reconcile their disputes through dialogue and to hold free, fair and transparent elections to all Assemblies on a mutually agress timeframe.”
“Pakistan Bar Council is ready to call/ arrange All Political Conference & to invite all central leadership of parliamentary parties to reconcile their disputes through dialogue & to hold free & fair elections to all assemblies on a mutually agreed timeframe” pic.twitter.com/5v3UqyFajN
The bar council stressed that the reconciliation process should be held “for the sake of the country as it cannot afford to further linger on prevailing tensions.”
Last month, in the wake of rising terrorist attacks, PM Shehbaz Sharif called for all parties conference and invited PTI chief Imran Khan as well. However, at the time Khan refused to take part in it.
Early this week, for two days police clashed with supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as officials tried to arrest Imran Khan on a warrant issued for missing court hearings.
On Monday, March 13, a contingent of police arrived with the arrest warrant at the Lahore residence of the former Prime Minister in Zaman Park. What begun as a routine arrest ended up with the police firing tear gas as protestors tried to stop the arrest. At least 54 policemen and eight civilians suffered injuries in the clashes.
As police forces, who were joined by Rangers, tried to disperse crowds, residents of the upper-scale neighborhood have confessed that the past three days have been a complete nightmare.
Model and dancer Hafsah Haq shared pictures and videos of the clashes and revealed that wifi, mobile and television channels had been cut off since the operation began:
“Our wifi, mobile net and TV channels have been cut off since 12 am yesterday. Communicating via texts and calls has been difficult as well because of the scattered signals causing delayed texts and calls dropping.”
Haq also shared a video of tear gas being shot near her home, and revealed how her family members were exposed to it:
“Tear gas was shot everywhere. Unfortunately, one landed in the terrace where the AC’s unit is visible is where one can landed and we were on the roof. We were exposed to it and immediately rushed back inside, washing our eyes and face because the burning sensation was horrendous.”
Haq also shared a video of a tear gas shell she found inside her house, and in the caption she had written that it had expired four months ago, making it more virulent:
“When they say it’s deadly after the expiration date. And it’s four months above the expiration date.”
The Current reached out to Resident 1 who lives near Zaman Park and was told that the situation has been bad for the past three days because the internet and light had been cut off in the area, as well as the extensive tear gas shells that have injured people. She said that she found at least 200 tear gas shells from her house:
“Police and rangers have been shelling continuously for two days straight, they used rubber bullets on people and also actual bullets were found on the roads of Zaman Park.”
Resident 1 also shared pictures with us of tear gas shells, which she revealed were thrown directly on crowds. She said that she and the rest of the residents couldn’t breathe and their skin began burning.
Resident 1 said that the police had not offered evacuation or medical facilities to residents currently residing in homes of Zaman Park.
“The rescue 1122 people were not responding, so we had to force them to help.”
Resident 1 said that without proper facilities, she and the rest of her family have been helping the protestors by providing them with salt and water, as well as stopping the police from hurting them.
Cut off without proper medical facilities or food, Resident 1 has been asking for more people to donate supplies in order to help the protestors.
The Current also reached out to Resident 2 who also lives near Zaman Park and confirmed that the residents themselves have been caught in the middle of the protests and are suffering from the shelling:
“Our faces, our skins, eyes are watering. We had rashes all over our body. It was intense, like when we stepped out into our gardens there was a cloud of tear gas, and the smell stayed on for quite a while. Breathing became unbearable although most of them were inside and people who were trying to put out the shells faced the same problems.”
In video clips posted to her Instagram stories, she had revealed that all entrances and exits to Zaman Park had been sealed
Resident 2 revealed that it was currently the residents who were stepping up to help the protestors and provide them with medical aid and food.
She went on to describe the medical camp that was set up at Zaman Park which was set up by the residents to help injured people, where it was disturbing to see young women and children injured:
“It was very disturbing to see young women and children bleeding and their retina’s burst and their lips split, their teeth and arms broken. Basically badly bruised and battered by the police. It was really upsetting to see such sights and at a human level, people in whatever capacity were stepping out and helping in any way they could.”
Resident 2 shared that while the situation at Zaman Park is bleak, she was empowered by witnessing these people fighting against the government attempt to arrest Imran Khan:
“Seeing all these people fighting at the forefront for their haqeeqi-azaadi, for Naya Pakistan for everybody, for a state that will have law at the forefront. All these people, all these youngsters..they have put their best fight forward..So it’s not that they were hiding, people were relentless in this fight and its sad to see that this is leading to polarisation.”
The Lahore High Court had ordered the police to halt the operation and said that on Thursday, all parties must sit together and find a solution.
But for the residents of Zaman Park this order doesn’t bring any joy as it doesn’t mean there is any proper outcome and it doesn’t provide any guarantee of safety for the residents or for Khan’s life.
“There are currently a large number of people at Zaman Park and we don’t know what is the leadership’s next move. We do not know what is the establishment’s next move. So what the people want right now is the safety of Khan.”
She also went on to condemn the IG of Lahore for saying in a televised speech that no bullets were fired at residents during Operation Zaman Park, stressing that bullets were found on the ground.
Resident 2 went on to say that what the people currently want is the assured safety of Imran Khan, and don’t want anything to happen to him.
“The few thousands that are here right now do not want anything to happen to Khan, and they don’t want to do any undertaking where they feel his life will be under threat. If he has has to go to court…they want some assurance, they want a promise from the government that nothing will happen to him.”
Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan’s sisters have approached different forums to complain about “the disruption, road and traffic blockade and loud music at night time”, caused by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan outside his residence in Zaman Park which has affected his neighbours’ sleep, writes Umar Cheema for The News.
“They started with Imran Khan. On February 14, Dr Shireen Zafarullah and Mrs Nasreen Khalid Chima wrote the first letter to him on February 14 to inform him about ‘huge and unacceptable intrusion into our privacy being caused by the show outside your home.’ Their father, Chaudhry Muhammad Ahsan, constructed the ancestral home in Zaman Park in 1933 well before Imran’s family was allotted the house in Zaman Park after the Partition. Ali, the son of Aitzaz Ahsan, also lives in that house besides the children of sisters of Aitzaz,” reads the article.
The sisters complained about the constant noise from the loud music which lasts till 4am every night.
Not getting any response, both sisters filed an application on March 8 against the illegal encroachment outside Imran Khan’s home. The application was addressed to Chief Secretary of Punjab, Inspector General of Police, Lahore Commissioner and SHO of Race Course Police Station. However, no action was taken by the Punjab government.
Finally, they moved the Lahore High Court, which didn’t entertain the petition either. A one-member bench of Justice Asim Hafeez said they should locate a Justice of Peace to pursue this matter.
The sisters have also written to the chief justices of the Supreme Court and Lahore High Court to take notice of the problems they are facing in Zaman Park.
An Islamabad court has rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s plea which sought suspension of non-bailable arrest warrants of Khan in the Toshakhana case.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal on Thursday gave the verdict that the warrants could not be suspended on the basis of an undertaking.
On Tuesday, the former ruling party moved Islamabad High Court (IHC) requesting it to suspend Khan’s non-bailable arrest warrants in the Toshakhana case, but the high court asked Khan to approach trial court.
Currently, the situation at Khan’s Zaman Park residence is relatively calm following the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) orders of stopping the police operation till 10am today. But later, the court clarified that it has not stopped police from executing the arrest warrants and asked PTI to resolve the matter.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has once again accused the establishment of interfering in politics, emphasising that nothing happens in the country without the permission of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir.
In an interview with Voice of America, Khan said, “This government is totally dependent on the establishment, nothing can happen without their consent.”
“Who is that one man?” asks the brilliant @SarahzTV. @ImranKhanPTI replies: “The army chief.”
With this, Khan has now clearly stated that after Bajwa, even General Munir is out to get him. pic.twitter.com/fzZHX0iiLF
— Uzair Younus عُزیر یُونس (@UzairYounus) March 15, 2023
Talking amidst the chaos happening right outside of his home at Zaman Park, he said, “It is too big a step for a government which has no legitimacy, no roots in this country, no moral authority. The only reason they are there is because of the establishment.”
He went on to say that the establishment is one man and that man is the army chief. “He makes the decision. Whatever he says is followed”, added Khan.
Since the ouster, Khan has been blaming the institution for removing him from power, naming ex-army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa multiple times in public.
On March 3, the PTI chief said that he is ready to hold talks with the COAS for the sake of the country, claiming that the army chief considers Imran his enemy.
The Lahore High Court (LHC) has extended the injunction on the police operation to arrest Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan in Zaman Park till tomorrow.
Yesterday, the court had ordered the police to stop the operation to arrest Imran Khan till 10 am today.
At the hearing of the petition against the police operation at LHC today, the court said that on Thursday all parties should sit together and find a solution. Stating that we are being dishonored as a nation, the judge said, “Move your rally; for God’s sake, let people live their routine lives.”
LHC also stopped PTI from holding a rally this Sunday at Iqbal Park (Minar-e-Pakistan) and asked the party to let citizens live their routine lives.
The party was planning to hold a “historic” public rally at Lahore’s Minar-e-Pakistan on March 19 and PTI Chairman Imran Khan was set to lead it — despite “security threats”.
PTI workers clashed for nearly 24 hours with the law enforcers trying to get through the party supporters and arrest Khan.
An Islamabad court said on Thursday that it can ask Islamabad police not to arrest Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan if he surrenders himself before the authorities.
The judge passed the remarks while hearing the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) reference seeking criminal proceedings against Imran for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts.
At the outset of the hearing, the PTI chief’s lawyer Khawaja Harris read out the IHC’s order on the party’s petition against the arrest warrants.
In response, the judge said that the trial court has not received the IHC’s order through the official process, but noted that the issue can be resolved quickly and asked where Khan was.
“Has Imran Khan presented himself before the court?” the judge asked. At this, Harris asked the judge whether it was important for the former prime minister to appear before the court in person.
“We want Imran Khan to appear before the court. Why isn’t he presenting himself before us? What’s the reason?” he asked, noting that in line with the law, Khan should assist the police and not resist it.
“Imran Khan created a scene by resisting [arrest],” the judge said, adding that the IHC’s order also mentions that the lower court’s order should not be affected through “illegal actions”.
The judge remarked that there “would be no issue” if the warrants were bailable, but the warrants issued against Khan were non-bailable. “The arguments you have presented are related to bailable arrest warrants,” the judge told the lawyer.
Harris then asked the judge whether he wanted to remain stern and keep Khan’s arrest warrants active. At this, the judge remarked that the warrants were issued to ensure Khan’s presence in person.
The lawyer then added Khan himself has said that he wants to appear before the court and he is not seeking any exemptions.
You have two options, Harris said, adding that the first option is to suspend the non-bailable warrant by accepting the undertaking request, and the second is to accept the surety and issue a bailable arrest warrant.
PTI’s lawyers, requesting to suspend the arrest warrants, said that Khan wants to give an undertaking to the court that he will appear in the session court on March 18.
The judge then said the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) should also be issued a notice. At this, the lawyer said that the court should issue the notice and summon the election commission today.
Judge Iqbal also asked Khan’s counsel why the situation in Lahore’s Zaman Park was “bad”. “This warrant has become not only the most expensive in Pakistan but the world. The government has spent millions of rupees to follow through on this warrant.”
Khan’s counsel lamented that whatever is happening at Zaman Park should not have taken place, and at this, the judge said that Khan should have been brought straight to the court.
“It is not possible that Imran Khan is harassed when he appears before the court. We are a poor country and it is not feasible to spend millions of rupees on a warrant.”
The judge added that if the PTI chief surrenders himself to the authorities, then he would tell the police to stand down and asked the counsel what could be amended in Khan’s warrants.
Harris then pleaded that Khan is giving an undertaking and that the court should suspend his warrants. “The warrants were issued in line with the law, then why did [authorities] face resistance? It is the nation’s money. The most you could have done was to hold a peaceful protest.”
The judge said in criminal cases, suspects appear before the court and once they do, the non-bailable arrest warrants are suspended. “The police can’t sit idle when arrest warrants are issued for March 18.”
The judge then added that he was issuing a notice to the ECP and adjourned the hearing till 12pm.
