According to police sources, the PTI chief could be arrested.
LAHORE: Imran Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, may be detained, according to police sources, who cited his failure to show up for a joint investigation team (JIT) looking into the vandalism of Jinnah House on May 9. The PTI leader and his wife Bushra Bibi were among the five suspects who had received notices to appear before the Lahore deputy inspector general (investigation) on Wednesday at 7pm. The JIT had instructed the police superintendents in Civil Lines and Model Town to make sure that all of the defendants were present. Other suspects include Hassaan Niazi, Imran’s nephew, and PTI leaders Hammad Azhar and Murad Saeed.
The summons ordered the defendant to show up for questioning in a case filed on May 10 under the laws of murder, attempted murder, vandalism, arson, and terrorism at the Sarwar Road police station.
The notices state that the suspects must appear at the DIG/investigative office at Lahore Abbot Road and Qila Gujjar Singh in Lahore on June 21 at 7 p.m. to participate in the investigative activities given to the JIT by the Punjab government. Security was increased inside and outside the inquiry offices after the summons was issued.
The anti-terrorism court (ATC) has issued non-bailable arrest warrants against the PTI head in two cases, according to the police sources, who insisted that he might be taken into custody if he failed to appear before the JIT within the allotted time.
The notice was delivered to the PTI chairman’s Zaman Park mansion just before 8 o’clock in the evening, according to reports, and Imran and his wife would not be able to appear before the JIT on Wednesday.
Imran received protected bail earlier that day in three counts including the unrest on May 9 and the killing of a respected Supreme Court attorney in Quetta.
Treason case to be heard by BHC on July 25
Imran Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was summoned by the Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Wednesday in response to a plea asking for the registration of a treason case against him.
The federal government was also given notice in this regard by a division bench made up of the Chief Justice, Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, and Justice Amir Rana. After summer vacations, the court set July 25 as the next date for the case’s hearing.
Senior attorney Abdul Razzaq Shar, who was assassinated, had filed a petition with the BHC asking for the treason case against the former prime minister to be registered for dissolving the assembly and breaking articles six and five of the Constitution.
The deceased lawyer’s attorney and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Amanullah Kanrani Advocate, stood before the bench and requested that Imran’s treason case be registered.
On June 6, Shar was slain in a shooting incident on Airport Road in Quetta. Siraj Ahmed Advocate, the deceased lawyer’s son, proposed the former premier in his father’s slaying. A senior police officer stated, without providing any other information, “The notice is being served through the Lahore police on former prime minister Imran Khan.” Since he was not licenced to speak to the media, he asked to remain anonymous.
