Two senior leaders from Imran Khan's party arrested

ISLAMABAD: Two senior leaders of Imran Khan's party were arrested on Friday as the Pakistan government launched a crackdown on the opposition party amidst the worsening political turmoil in the country following the former prime minister's arrest in a corruption case.

Shireen Mazari, a former federal minister for Human Rights, was arrested from her house.

Imaan Hazir-Mazari, the daughter of Mazari and a lawyer, shared a video on Twitter that appeared to show plainclothes men forcefully entering her home to arrest the former minister.

Later, another video emerged on Twitter showing female officers taking the former minister away from her residence. As she was escorted to a police vehicle, Mazari raised a victory sign, saying “victory for democracy”, while condemning “state terrorism” as unacceptable.

Shortly before posting the video, Mazari’s daughter had tweeted that approximately 50 cops carrying firearms had entered her residence.

“Our SVP Dr Shireen Mazari is being abducted at this precise moment. Police have also entered with guns her home, reaching a new low. Extremely shameful!” the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) wrote on Twitter.

Her arrest comes after a series of arrests of several other PTI leaders, including Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Ali Mohammad Khan, and Senator Ejaz Chaudhry.

All of these leaders other than Khan were arrested under section three of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO).

According to a PTI statement, former Punjab health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid has also been arrested.

PTI leader Andaleeb Abbas said that the former minister was hiding to avoid arrest.

''Police had taken her close family members into custody two days ago but her husband was released after his health deteriorated. Her brother-in-law is still in police custody.

There are several cases filed against Yasmin, including that of an attack on the Lahore Corps Commander's residence.

Khan, 70, was arrested on Tuesday from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and an accountability court Wednesday handed him over to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for eight days remand in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case.

His arrest sparked widespread protests across Pakistan, prompting the government to deploy the army in the national capital as well as in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces. The violent protests left at least eight people dead.

On Thursday, a three-member Supreme Court bench, comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah, ordered Khan's immediate release.

Khan is facing over 120 cases across the country, including for allegedly committing treason and blasphemy and inciting violence and terrorism.

The bench, while hearing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman's plea against his arrest, expressed anger at the way he was taken into custody by paramilitary Rangers and ordered the NAB to produce him before it.

Khan, who was ousted from power in April last year, was brought to the court amid heavy security. The court also directed him to approach the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday and seek further legal recourse. ''You will have to accept whatever the high court decides,'' the top judge said.

Bandial also said that it is every politician's responsibility to ensure law and order.

Khan is set to appear before the IHC on Friday for pre-arrest bail amid tight security as his party announced a rally on the occasion and asked followers to gather nearby the court for the leader's address.

The IHC upheld his arrest but the Supreme Court on Thursday invalidated his incarceration declaring no one could be arrested from inside the court and ordered his release as it directed police to keep him in the Supreme Court’s protection and produce him before the high court at 11 am.