Pakistan: Former PM Imran Khan threatens new arrest

by Asif Shahzad

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s government on Wednesday accused former prime minister Imran Khan of harboring supporters wanted for attacks on the army that followed his arrest last week, and warned that he had authorities You have 24 hours to give, risk facing. police action.

Imran Khan was arrested by Pakistan’s anti-corruption agency last week before the Supreme Court termed his arrest as “illegal and illegal”.

Imran Khan wrote on Twitter, “This is probably my last tweet before my next arrest.” He said that the police have surrounded his house in Lahore city.

Punjab’s provincial information minister Aamir Mir said intelligence services have identified 30 to 40 people accused of attacking military installations hiding in Imran Khan’s house.

Amir Mir gave Imran Khan 24 hours to hand over the suspects to the police, adding that law enforcement would launch an operation if the former leader did not cooperate.

Imran Khan’s arrest last week sparked political unrest in the country of 220 million people, which is facing a severe economic crisis with record inflation and delayed disbursements of IMF funds.

Thousands of supporters of the former cricket star attacked and torched several government buildings, some of which belonged to the military, in the wake of his arrest. Over 3,000 people were arrested.

Imran Khan was removed from the post of prime minister last year after the no-confidence motion was passed in the National Assembly.

But he did not disappear from the public eye even after he was shot and injured during a demonstration calling for general elections in November.

(Reporting by Gibran Peshimm, Mubasher Bukhari; French edition edited by Zhifan Liu, Blandine Heinault)