Imran Khan was arrested yesterday in a corruption case
Islamabad/New Delhi:
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been sent to the custody of the country’s top anti-corruption body for eight days. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had asked a court in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad for 10 days’ custody for questioning in the corruption cases, where Mr Khan appeared today.
Mr Khan was arrested yesterday during a routine hearing in Islamabad. He was taken overnight to an undisclosed location before appearing behind closed doors in a specially convened court at the police headquarters.
Mr Khan alleged in court that he was tortured in custody and was not even allowed to use the washroom.
The former cricket superstar, who is popular in Pakistan, alleged that he was given an injection to slow down his heart attack.
The Islamabad court will next hear the matter on May 17.
There have been massive protests across Pakistan by Mr Khan’s supporters. The protests have led to widespread destruction of properties.
Mr Khan says the myriad legal cases are part of an effort by the struggling government and the military establishment to prevent him from returning to power.
The drama follows months of political crisis during which Mr Khan, who was ousted in April last year, has waged an unprecedented campaign against Pakistan’s military.
Mr Khan’s arrest also came hours after a reprimand by the military, which alleged that a senior officer was involved in a plot to kill him.
Pakistan’s politicians have often been arrested and jailed since the country’s founding in 1947, but few have directly challenged the army, which has staged at least three coups and been in power for more than three decades. have ruled.
Pakistan’s interior ministry has ordered the cutting of mobile internet services and restricted access to social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Authorities have ordered the closure of schools across the country – end-of-year exams for students have been cancelled.
Hundreds of police officers have been injured across the country, while nearly 1,000 people have been arrested in Pakistan’s most populous province, Punjab, and the army has been ordered to be deployed to keep the peace.
with inputs from afp