LAHORE, Jan 25 (EW): PTI leader Fawad Chaudhary was apprehended from his residence, shortly after he publicly censured the government for scheming to arrest party chairman, Imran Khan, said party leader Farrukh Habib Wednesday morning.
The development comes as a surprise for many. The Islamabad police have confirmed the arrest. A case against Chaudhary was registered last night at the Kohsar police station in Islamabad on the complaint of Secretary of the Election Commission Of Pakistan (ECP) Omer Hamid Khan. The first information report (FIR) was lodged against him for using threatening language against the ECP and its members.
The PTI leader has been booked under sections 153-A (promotion of enmity between groups), 506 (criminal intimidation), 505 (statement conducing to public mischief) and 124-A (sedition) of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Sections 124-A and 153-A are non-bailable charges while an accused can get bail if charged under sections 505 and 506 of the PPC.
In his speech outside Imran Khan’s residence in Lahore, Fawad warned the ECP, its members and their families, according to the FIR.
The FIR states that Chaudhary said that the status of the election commission was reduced to that of a “Munshi [clerk]”.
Fawad said that those who become part of the caretaker government will be pursued until they are punished. He had said that the people sitting in the government would be pursued to their houses.
Fawad’s arrest comes amid the nightlong turnout of PTI workers who rushed to party chairman Imran Khan’s residence to ensure his security.
“The imported government has gone berserk,” Habib said in a tweet. The PTI leader also posted videos on social media of police whisking away Fawad.
The Islamabad police sources said the PTI leader was arrested from his residence near Thokar Niyaz Baig in Lahore. He would be taken to the federal capital, the sources said.
Several party leaders condemned the detention of Fawad Chaudhry. PTI Sindh President Ali Haider Zaidi slammed the government over the arrest.
“Pakistan has become a lawless state at the hands of these lawbreaking lawmakers and corrupt law enforcement officers,” he tweeted.
As rumors of an impending arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief, Imran Khan, circulated in the early hours of Wednesday, party leaders and workers, in large numbers, descended upon his residence in Lahore’s Zaman Park.
Meanwhile, the PTI announced on its official Twitter handle: “There are reports that the puppet government will try to arrest Imran Khan tonight.”
Raising slogans in support of Khan, his fervent supporters voiced their anger and pledged their unwavering loyalty to their leader, even if it meant putting their own lives on the line.
Speaking with the press earlier in the night, Chaudhry, vehemently denounced the government’s actions, calling it a nefarious plot to destabilise the country. He went on to call those involved in the supposed conspiracy as traitors.
“If the police have courage and audacity, they should come and arrest Imran Khan,” Chaudhry said.
Another party leader, Hammad Azhar, claimed that the government was actively working to create an environment for Khan’s arrest. Accordingly, the party has taken measures to ensure their leader’s safety, he said.
