ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Interior Minister Rana Sanuallah has said the government plans to consult experts on initiating a process to declare Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) a “proscribed” outfit.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan police on Sunday registered a terrorism case against Imran Khan and several PTI leaders for indulging in vandalism, attacking security personnel and creating unrest outside the judicial complex here ahead of a court hearing in a graft case involving the ousted premier.
Clashes erupted outside the Islamabad Judicial Complex on Saturday when Khan arrived in Islamabad from Lahore to attend the much-awaited hearing in the Toshakhana case.
During the confrontation between PTI workers and the police, over 25 security personnel were injured, prompting Additional District and Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal to defer the court hearing till March 30. The case was registered against arrested PTI workers and wanted party leaders. Seventeen PTI leaders were named in the FIR, Geo News reported. Eighteen persons were arrested for arson, throwing stones and damaging the judicial complex building, the FIR stated.
Khan (70), along with his supporters, arrived in Islamabad from Lahore to appear before the court. Soon after he departed for Islamabad to attend the hearing, over 10,000 armed Punjab police personnel stormed Khan’s Zaman Park residence in Lahore and arrested his party workers.
The police personnel removed the barricades and tents at the entrance of the PTI chief’s residence and evicted hundreds of his supporters camping there to prevent Khan’s arrest in the Toshakhana case.
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said on Sunday the party would get cases registered against police officers involved in the “illegal operations” and violence at Khan’s residence.
The PTI chief has been in the dock for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch, he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana and selling them for profit.