Police on Tuesday fired teargas and water cannon as hundreds of members and supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party gathered outside his Zaman Park residence.
Television images showed police approaching Khan’s residence accompanied by an armoured vehicle. Khan’s supporters were also seen throwing stones at the police.
Syed Shehzad Nadeem Bukhari, a senior officer in the Islamabad Police, told reporters the officers intended to arrest Khan, 70.
“We are here to fulfil the warrant and to arrest Imran Khan,” he said.
Minutes later, Khan posted a video message on Twitter, saying his supporters should fight for their rights – “for real freedom” – if he is arrested.
“Police are here to send me to jail. They think if Imran Khan goes to jail, this nation will go to sleep. You have to prove them wrong,” he said in the video.
“[If] something happens to me, if they send me to jail, or if I am killed, you have to show you can fight without me as well,” Khan said.
Police earlier said they were going to Khan’s house to hand over the two arrest warrants issued by a court in Islamabad on Monday in corruption and “terrorism” cases.
One of the warrants relates to Khan allegedly threatening a female judge during one of his speeches last year. The other concerns accusations that Khan sold state gifts and concealed assets while in office as prime minister, an office he held from 2018 to 2022.
Source: Aljazeera.com
