Screengrab of the Islamabad police team attempting to secure PTI chief Imran Khan’s arrest
Police in Lahore on Monday registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, his chief of staff Shibli Faraz and 150 party workers for harassing and threatening the life of an Islamabad police team that had sought to arrest the former prime minister over the weekend.
Registered by the Race Course police on the complaint of Islamabad Secretariat police SHO Nadeem Tahir, the FIR states that he was part of the team that came to arrest Khan in compliance with orders of an additional district and sessions judge. He said the team had been surrounded by 100-150 PTI workers, armed with clubs, when they reached Khan’s Zaman Park residence with non-bailable arrest warrants. The workers, he maintained, had threatened the life of the Islamabad police team, warning of killing them if they “dared” to enter Khan’s house.
Recalling that the “attackers” had rejected repeated appeals by the police to allow them to comply with court orders, he said Faraz had reached them through the crowd and used “delaying” tactics to bar the police from entering Khan’s residence. Alleging that the PTI leader had deliberately distorted facts by giving police a notice claiming Khan was “not available at his residence,” he said the PTI chief had addressed party workers from the same residence within minutes of the police departing.
Imran Khan, with the connivance of Shibli Faraz and 150 party workers, alleged the SHO, had committed a criminal offense by evading efforts of the Islamabad police to discharge their duty.