Imran Khan was named in several FIRs registered in different police stations of the province.
Lahore:
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan today appeared before an anti-terrorism court in four cases including the attack on the Lahore Corp Commander House and submitted his pre-arrest bail bond till June 2.
Khan appeared before ATC Lahore judge Ijaz Ahmed Buttar and submitted a surety amount of PKR 1 lakh each in four terrorism cases in which he has already been protected from arrest till June 2, a court official told PTI. Bail was granted earlier.
A group of lawyers raised slogans in his favor as the 70-year-old chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party appeared in the court amid tight security.
Mr Khan’s lawyer also challenged the search warrant of former prime minister Zaman Park’s Lahore residence in the anti-terrorism court.
The judge summoned the DIG (Operations) of Punjab Police for the next hearing and directed him to file a reply.
Violent protests broke out in Islamabad on 9 May following Mr Khan’s arrest by paramilitary Rangers. His party workers vandalized more than 20 military establishments and government buildings, including the Lahore Corps Commander House, the Mianwali Airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad. The Army Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time. Mr Khan was later released on bail.
Law enforcement agencies have arrested more than 10,000 workers of Mr. Khan’s Pakistan Party across Pakistan, 4,000 of them from Punjab.
Police put the death toll in the violent clashes at 10, while Khan’s party claimed 40 of its workers were killed in firing by security personnel.
Meanwhile, two of Mr Khan’s lawyers appeared before a joint investigation team probing the attack on the Corps Commander’s House, also known as Jinnah House, in Lahore.
Mr Khan was called on Tuesday to record his statement by the Joint Investigation Team set up by the Punjab interim government to probe the arson attacks on Jinnah House and Askari Corporate Tower in Lahore on May 9, but he instead sent his lawyers .
Mr Khan has said he had no role in the attack on military installations, especially Jinnah House as he was in jail during this period.
The ATC had directed Mr Khan to join the police investigation into the attack on the high-profile Lahore Corps Commander House.
On 9 May, a large number of Mr. Khan’s party workers stormed Jinnah House and set it on fire after ransacking it.
The Punjab Home Department has constituted 10 separate JITs to probe the attacks and violent protests that took place on May 9, which was termed as “Black Day” by the Army.
Khan was named in several FIRs lodged in different police stations of the province.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)