Imran Khan arrested, Army compound stormed as Pakistan plunges into chaos

From cricket star to ousted PM, Imran Khan is an anti-establishment rebel to some and a corrupt force for destruction to others - The Guardian 

Imran Khan, 70, a cricket hero-turned-politician, has showed no sign of slowing down since being ousted in April 2022 as prime minister in a parliamentary no-confidence vote - even after being wounded in a November attack on his convoy as he led a protest march to Islamabad calling for snap general elections. 

Imran also told his supporters in a pre-recorded video that he will be "closed inside in an unlawful case" and that he "may not get chance to address them again".

New Delhi 

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested at Islamabad High Court on Tuesday by the anti-corruption agency threatening fresh turmoil in the crisis-ridden country as clashes erupted between PTI party workers and police and army killing at least one protester.

The arrest came a day after the powerful military rebuked him for repeatedly accusing a senior military officer of ISI trying to engineer his assassination and the former armed forces chief of being responsible for his ouster from power last year.

Imran’s lawyer Faisal Fareed Chaudhry confirmed the court’s decision which held the arrest legal.

“The court declared the arrest legal. We are consulting with party leaders to decide the future course of action,” he said.

The episode marks a dramatic escalation of political tensions in the country which is already facing serious economic crisis. 

"The former prime minister was arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust case after he had reached the IHC for two hearings today afternoon. Inspector General (IG) Akbar Nasir said that Imran had been arrested in relation to the case which alleges that the PTI chief and his wife obtained billions of rupees from a real estate firm for legalising a laundered amount of Rs 50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government," the 'Dawn' newspaper reported.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority on Tuesday confirmed that it had suspended mobile broadband across the country on the interior ministry’s instructions.

Meanwhile, Netblocks, an organisation that tracks internet outages, said access to Twitter, Facebook and Youtube was restricted across Pakistan amid PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s arrest earlier today from the Islamabad High Court’s premises in the Al-Qadir Trust case.

The organisation further said that “total internet shutdowns have been observed in some regions” in a report.  

At least one person was reported killed in clashes between protesters and the military in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province, with another five people wounded there, while about 15 injuries were reported amid similar violence in Karachi, Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Lahore. Police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrations.

Pakistan has a long history of incarcerating individuals who have held the country's top executive office.

** Former prime minister and PTI chief Imran Khan was taken into custody on Tuesday, May 9, 2003 by paramilitary Rangers from the premises of the Islamabad High Court.  

Jan 1962: Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was the fifth prime minister of Pakistan (Sept 1956-Oct 1957). He refused to endorse Gen Ayub Khan’s seizure of government. Through the Elective Bodies Disqualification Order (Ebdo), he was banned from politics and was later accused of violating the Ebdo in July 1960. 

In Jan 1962, he was arrested and put in solitary confinement in the Central Jail of Karachi without trial on concocted charges of “anti-state activities” under the 1952 Security of Pakistan Act.  

Sept 1977: Zulfikar Ali Bhutto served as the prime minister from Aug 1973 to July 1977. In Sept 1977, he was arrested for conspiring to murder a political opponent in 1974.  Bhutto was eventually sentenced to death and executed on April 4, 1979.

Aug 1985: Benazir Bhutto served as Pakistan’s prime minister twice (Dec 1998-Aug 1990 and Oct 1993-Nov 1996). Under Ziaul Haq’s dictatorship (1977-1988), Benazir served as an opposition leader. She arrived in Pakistan in Aug 1985 for her brother’s funeral and was put under house arrest for 90 days. 

Aug 1986: Benazir Bhutto was arrested for denouncing the government at a rally in Karachi on Independence Day.

May 1998: The Ehtesab Bench of the Lahore High Court issued bailable arrest warrants for Benazir Bhutto. 

June 1998: The Public Accounts Committee issued an arrest warrant against Benazir Bhutto.  

July 1998: The Ehtesab Bench issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Benazir Bhutto.

Sept 2007: Nawaz Sharif returned to Pakistan after being cast into exile by Gen Pervez Musharraf in 1999. On his return to Islamabad, the airport was sealed and Nawaz was arrested within hours of his return and sent to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to complete the three remaining years of his 10-year exile.  

July 2018: Nawaz was arrested and given a 10-year sentence for corruption by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) along with his daughter Maryam Nawaz. He was released two months later when the court suspended the sentences to wait for a final judgement by the high court.

Dec 2018: Sharif was jailed again and given a seven-year sentence in relation to his family’s ownership of steel mills in Saudi Arabia. In November 2019, he was allowed to leave the country to receive medical treatment. He has since not returned to Pakistan.

"Critics have accused Imran Khan of stirring up political turmoil for selfish ends. But just as thousands took to the streets after he lost power, Khan’s enduring popularity was evident hours after his arrest on Tuesday when his many diehard loyalists took to the streets in protests across country."

 - Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia correspondent

The Guardian that also says -- "How Imran Khan became the man who divided Pakistan"