Real intent ‘abduct, assassinate’: Defiant Imran Khan calls arrest ‘mere drama’

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan called attempts by Islamabad police to arrest him in Toshakhana case “mere drama” as he claimed that the “real intent is to abduct & assassinate”.

“From tear gas & water cannons, they have now resorted to live firing. I signed a surety bond last evening, but the DIG refused to even entertain it. There is no doubt of their mala fide intent,” Imran Khan further claimed in a tweet sharing a video in which supporters of the former prime minister are showing bullets.

Supporters of Imran Khan clashed with police outside his Lahore residence where he was holed defying attempts to arrest. Police fired fusillades of teargas dodging rocks thrown by angry supporters of Imran Khan who issued a video shortly before dawn, in which he said, “I am telling the entire nation today that they are ready once again, they’re going to come again. They will teargas our people and do other such things, but you should know that they have no justification to do so.”

Videos shared widely on social media showed several injured supporters of Imran Khan while PTI’s account showed video of teargas canisters landing inside Imran Khan’s garden.

“The way the police attack our people… there is no precedent for this. Water canons, teargas… they shelled inside the house where there were servants and women,” Imran Khan said.

PTI deputy leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that “we want to be peaceful”, insisting police should deliver the arrest warrant to him and said he would “try to find a solution to avoid bloodshed”.

Imran Khan has been summoned to court to answer accusations in the Toshakhana case related to gifts received during his time as prime minister.