Several senior leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who were briefly detained on Tuesday outside Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi, were released as they reached to meet the party’s founder, Imran Khan.
A police spokesperson said the PTI leaders were sent away after being warned against violation of Section 144. The enforcement of law will be ensured in any case, he added.
The arrested leaders, including Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz, Hamid Raza and Asad Qaiser, were shifted to the Adiala Jail police post. Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmed Bhachar was also among those leaders, while PTI leader Aalia Hamza managed to escape.
Sources said the leaders were arrested for allegedly violating Section 144, a law prohibiting gatherings and unauthorized public assemblies.
Speaking from Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the detentions, criticising them as “dirty tactics” employed by the government. He further claimed that the PTI founder would himself give a call for protests this month.
"This is not new; such arrests have previously also been made on fake cases," he asserted.
Sheikh Waqas Akram, the central information secretary of the PTI, noted that the detained individuals had reached Adiala Jail to meet Imran Khan as scheduled. According to Akram, the leadership was kept waiting until 3pm and was ultimately denied a meeting with the former prime minister.
"As the leaders started to leave, they were taken off their vehicles and detained,” he said, calling the incident an act of "fascism" and demanding the immediate release of all central leaders.
As the PTI leaders reached the jail premises, they were supposed to go inside after getting security clearance at Gate No 5.
