Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and a former prime minister of Pakistan, is likely to be detained in connection with a case involving foreign money, according to sources cited by local media on Friday.
The news came shortly after the same-day arrests of fellow PTI officials Tariq Shafi, Hamid Zaman, and Saif Niazi. According to the media, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah directed the appropriate authorities to file a complaint against Imran Khan.
The federal government has developed a plan under which the police have been authorised to place Imran Khan under house arrest at his Banigala property after the announcement of the much-anticipated long march, according to an earlier story in the Dawn daily, which cited sources.
Saifullah Niazi, the PTI leader, was notably detained on Friday by the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cybercrime division on suspicion of operating a “unauthorised” website that was being used for illegitimate fundraising, according to ARY news.
“It is apparent that the government is panicked and is afraid after the announcement of the ‘Azadi March’ after Shehbaz Sharif’s press conference yesterday and the subsequent arrests of Tariq Shafi, Hamid Zaman, and Saif Niazi,” PTI leader Chaudhry Fawad Hussain tweeted.
Rana Sanaullah, speaking at a news conference in Islamabad on Friday, explained the circumstances of the imprisonment and mentioned that the PTI officials had not been called to testify before the FIA in the party’s case involving illegal fundraising.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan instructed party members to prepare for the “Haqeeqi Azadi March” in Islamabad.
