Soon after the arrest of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan on Tuesday, clashes started in different areas of the country with supporters seeking an immediate release of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief.
Footage of the arrest showed dozens of armed forces personnel in riot-control gear surrounding Khan and leading him into a black van by his arm.
Videos appearing on social media also show gatherings of Khan supporters protesting against the arrest.
Dozens of supporters blocked streets in Khan’s hometown of Lahore, where police have been put on high alert.
Protesters also blocked a major road in the port city of Karachi, according to Reuters witnesses.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party called on supporters to “shut down Pakistan”.
“It’s your time, people of Pakistan. Khan has always stood for you, now its time to stand for him,” the PTI wrote on Twitter.
Earlier in the day, Khan was arrested by paramilitary force from outside Islamabad High Court.
According to Fawad Chaudhry, the official spokesperson of Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, he has been “abducted from Court premises. Scores of lawyers and general people have been tortured.”
A video of Imran Khan’s dramatic arrest outside the high court in Pakistan is being shared on social media sites.
Musarrat Cheema, the PTI leader, in a video message on Twitter, said: “They are torturing Imran Khan right now…they are beating Khan sahib. They have done something with Khan sahib.”
Khan’s arrest comes a day after the Pakistan Army slammed the former PM for “highly irresponsible and baseless” allegations by him against a serving ISI officer without any evidence as a fresh war of words broke out between the powerful military and the former prime minister.
In a strongly worded statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) – the media wing of the military- also said that Khan’s “fabricated and malicious allegations are extremely unfortunate, deplorable and unacceptable”.
“This has been a consistent pattern for last one year wherein military and intelligence agencies officials are targeted with insinuations and sensational propaganda for the furtherance of political objectives,” it said.
The statement came two days after the 70-year-old former cricketer-turned-politician at a rally on Saturday accused spy agency ISI Gen Faisal Naseer of orchestrating plans to murder him.
