Imran Khan aide raided after no-trust vote defeat, alleges ex-PM's party

Lahore: Hours after Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted from power through a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly on Sunday, his close aide's house here was raided and his family's mobile phones were confiscated, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf has alleged.

Dr Arsalan Khalid had worked as the focal person for Mr Khan on the digital media team since 2019.

"Ex Focal person on PM Imran Khan on Digital, Dr Arsalan Khalid's home has been raided and they have taken all phones from his family," Mr Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf said on Twitter.

"He has never abused anyone on social media & never attacked any institutions,” another tweet said.

The party has urged the Federal Investigation Agency to investigate this incident.

Dr Khalid is a graduate of King Edward Medical University and an entrepreneur, and had earlier led the PTI Lahore chapter social media, according to a Geo TV report.

He had spearheaded the social media campaigns for multiple historic events, including the Digital Media Campaign for General Election 2018, the report added.

Former federal minister and PTI leader Asad Umar reacted to the incident, saying that the raid on Mr Khalid's house is "highly condemnable." "Raid on @arslankhalid_m house is highly condemnable. Patriotic youth like dr. Arslan is an asset for the nation," Mr Umar tweeted.

Pakistan will have a new Prime Minister on Monday when the National Assembly reconvenes to elect a new head of the government after Khan was ousted from office through a no-confidence vote.

The combined Opposition has already named Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif as its joint candidate to replace Mr Khan.