2 senior leaders from Imran Khan's party arrested

Islamabad, May 12

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 forcibly 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 on 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.