ISLAMABAD, Sept 11 (Askume) – Several lawmakers and leaders of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party were arrested and charged with terrorism following a rally demanding his release, police said on Wednesday.
The MPs arrested after Sunday’s rally turned violent are in police custody and will remain in custody until September 18 under investigation, police officer Zafar Khan and a party official said.
Former cricket star Khan , 71,His imprisonment for more than a year has sparked the worst political unrest in decades in the country of 241 million people.
Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan’s party leads a majority government, was among those accused, according to a police crime report seen by Askume.
An Islamabad police spokesman said the charges included violating law and order and assaulting law enforcement officers, which is a terrorism offence. He did not disclose or elaborate on the number of those detained.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said about a dozen of its lawmakers were detained in Islamabad. The party said other lawmakers took refuge in parliament to escape police, who entered the building and arrested some of its members.
The party had announced a nationwide protest on Friday against this action.
PTI-backed candidates won the most seats in a general election in February but fell short of the majority needed to form a government. Khan’s rivals formed a coalition led by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif.
The PTI said the election was rigged to remove Khan from power – a charge denied by Pakistan’s Election Commission.
