- The government rejected the plan to arrest PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
- It says it will reveal the plans after the 2 p.m. deadline.
- Police blocked all roads leading to Khan’s Zaman Park residence.
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.
The provincial minister said during an interview that first let the deadline of 24 hours expire and then the government will reveal its plans. Geo News Program “Today with Shahzeb Khanzada”
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. After
“Probably my last tweet before my next arrest. By the police [sic] My house is surrounded,” the PTI chief — who was ousted as prime minister in April last year — said in a tweet.
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, Khan Sahab May ask these people to leave Zaman Park. When they do, we will arrest them,” he said, adding that all agencies had noted in their reports that “terrorists” were present at Khan’s 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 harboring” 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
Geo News Reporter Azam Malik, who was present at Zaman Park, said that the PTI chief allowed the 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 further said that several PTI workers have also reached Zaman Park after the information minister warned that the operation would be started 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 workers and high-level leaders, including Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar and Shireen Mazari, have been arrested under Section 3 of the 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.