Law enforcers and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers clashed on Tuesday as a heavy contingent of police reached Zaman Park to arrest former prime minister Imran Khan in the Toshakana case, Geo News reported.
A team of Islamabad police has been in Lahore since yesterday to comply with the court orders to arrest the PTI chairman, who faces a number of cases in different cities.
The police, although observing restraint, are using water canons to disperse the party’s workers as they move ahead in their quest to arrest Khan, and they are around 90 metres away from his residence, the report said.
The law enforcers are in Zaman Park in line with court orders as on Monday, a district and sessions court in Islamabad restored the former prime minister’s non-bailable arrest warrant in the Toshakhana case.
Last week, the IHC suspended the non-bailable arrest warrant for Khan issued by the local court issued due to the PTI chief’s continuous absence and directed him to appear before the lower court on March 13 — and he failed to comply with the orders yet again.
This is the second time in less than 10 days that the police have arrived at Zaman Park to apprehend Khan.
As the party’s workers resorted to stone-pelting, a policeman suffered injuries on his face. Meanwhile, the law enforcers have also arrested the PTI workers.
Amid the clashes between the PTI’s workers and the police, the party’s Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the leadership is ready to find out a “possible way out” to avert bloodshed.
The PTI vice chairman, while addressing a press conference at Zaman Park, asked the police to not “worsen the situation” and talk to the party’s leadership.
“Show me the warrant. I will first read and understand it. Then, I will speak to Imran Khan and my lawyers,” the senior PTI leader told the police.
Meanwhile, PTI leader Farrukh Habib said that he is going to talk to the police, terming the move “dangerous” for Khan.
In a tweet later, PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said that the party leaders have moved the IHC against the arrest warrants issued in the Toshakhana case.
