Hours after a day-long escalation continued between PTI supporters and law enforcement agencies outside former prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan’s residence, Lahore High Court stopped police operation at Zaman Park till 10am tomorrow, Dawn reported.
The court was hearing a petition filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry seeking to stop the “atrocities” outside Khan’s Zaman Park residence in Lahore.
The Islamabad High Court is also expected to deliver its verdict later on Wednesday on another PTI plea challenging the arrest warrant against Khan.
Earlier in the day, PTI workers clashed with police as tear gas were also fired for a second day on Wednesday after officers tried to arrest Khan.
Police besieged the 70-year-old opposition leader’s house in the eastern city of Lahore since Tuesday as his supporters hurled rocks and bricks, and swung batons snatched from the officers.
Clashes were also reported between Khan’s supporters and police in other major cities, including Karachi, Islamabad, the garrison city of Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Quetta and elsewhere in Pakistan. The government sent additional police to Lahore’s upscale area of Zaman Park, where Khan lives.
Khan says the government wanted him behind bars in order to stop him from taking part in general elections due later this year.
“The reason why this is happening is not because I broke any law. They want me in jail so that I cannot contest elections,” he told the AFP news agency after the police called off a siege of his Lahore residence.
