Over 100 more workers of Imran Khan's party arrested in connection with May 9 violence

LAHORE: Over 100 more workers of jailed prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party have been arrested in Pakistan's Punjab province capital Lahore in connection with attacks on military installations in May, police said on Sunday.

''We have arrested 105 PTI workers wanted in the attacks on Lahore Corps Commander House and Askari Tower (allegedly owned by the son of former army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa) in different parts of the city on Saturday,'' a Lahore police statement said on Sunday. It said a crackdown has been launched against around 1,000 PTI workers who still managed to escape the arrest in connection with the May 9 attacks. On May 9, violent protests erupted after the arrest of Khan by paramilitary Rangers from the premises of the Islamabad High Court. His party workers vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Jinnah House (Lahore Corps Commander house), Mianwali airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad. The Army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time.

On Wednesday, police arrested 62 workers of Khan’s party in Lahore in this respect.

Police action against the PTI leaders and workers has been intensified across the country following the announcement of general elections in Pakistan on February 8, 2024.

According to Khan’s party, over 10,000 leaders and workers of the party have been in jail since early May in connection with attacks on military and state installations following the arrest of the former prime minister.

The party’s core committee has strongly condemned the state's coercive tactics, and reprisal actions against the PTI workers and leaders even after the announcement of the polls date.

''We condemn the illegal fascist measures of the state against peaceful political activities before the elections. The nation will not accept rigged polls held in such uneven electoral field and with state interference,'' it said.

It added that after fixing the poll date, the reprehensible attempts to force the PTI out of the electoral arena and deprive it of a level playing field have become more prominent before the world.

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Khan has been detained at Adiala Jail Rawalpindi in the cipher case.