Pakistani police raided former prime minister Imran Khan’s home

News

Author: Associated Press

March 18, 2023 | 17:11

Pakistani police raided former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s residence in eastern Lahore on Saturday and arrested 61 people amid tear gas and clashes between Khan’s supporters and police, officials said.

Senior police officer Suhail Sukhera, who led the operation in an upscale Lahore neighborhood, said police had moved to remove a barricade erected by members of Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf party and his defiant supporters.

He said they blocked the lanes around Khan’s apartment with concrete blocks, felled trees, tents and a parked truck.

Khan was not at home as he traveled to Islamabad to appear before a judge on the charges. He sold government gifts while in office and hid his wealth.

The judge adjourned the hearing to March 30.

Sukhera said baton-wielding Khan supporters tried to resist police by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, and a man on the roof of Khan’s apartment opened fire.

At least three police officers were injured.

Sukhera said police broke down the main door of Khan’s apartment and found automatic weapons, Molotov cocktails, iron pipes and batons used in police attacks during the week.

Sukhera said illegal structures had been erected inside the sprawling residential area to shelter people involved in attacks on police that have left dozens injured.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah later said police would conduct a full search of Khan’s home, where they found bunkers and suspected illegal weapons and ammunition were hidden.

He said in Islamabad that Khan and many of his supporters were armed.

Witnesses in Lahore said police tried to disperse Khan’s supporters by firing tear gas and chased them into several homes in the Zaman Park neighborhood.

Khan’s lawyer appeared in an Islamabad court on Saturday after the Supreme Court stayed Khan’s arrest warrant, giving him a reprieve to travel to Islamabad and face charges in the extradition case without being arrested.

Khan had been holed up at his home in Lahore since Tuesday after failing to turn up for an earlier hearing in the case.

His supporters threw stones and clashed with baton-wielding police for two days to protect the former prime minister from arrest.

Khan’s motorcade arrived near the federal courthouse in Islamabad on Saturday, where his supporters also clashed with police who blocked them from entering the complex.

Enraged, Khan’s supporters pelted stones at the police, who responded with tear gas canisters to disperse them.

Khan’s lawyer Babar Awan filed an application to exempt Khan from appearing in court amid special circumstances.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar condemned Khan for not surrendering himself to the police and not appearing in court on Saturday despite arriving at the gate of the judiciary.

He accused Khan of using his protesters to avoid prosecution.

According to the Law Minister, Khan’s supporter set fire to two police vehicles and several motorcycles outside the court while dispersing.

On his way to Islamabad, Khan said in a video message that the police had broken into his apartment in Lahore while his wife was home alone.

He condemned the act and demanded that the culprits be punished.

Asad Umar, general secretary of Khan’s PTI party, pointed out in a letter to Pakistan’s chief justice that the police waited until Khan was on his way to Islamabad to raid his Lahore residence.

He said “doors and walls have been knocked down” and more than 40 people inside the home were arrested.

Khan, the current opposition leader, was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote last April. He is accused of selling government gifts while in office and concealing assets, but he denies the charges.

It is one of the cases the former cricket star Islamist politician has faced since his ouster.

Khan, 70, who has called for early parliamentary elections, has claimed that his ouster was part of a conspiracy between his successor, Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, and the United States.

Both Washington and the Sharif government have denied the claim.