The situation remains tense in Lahore and several other cities of Pakistan’s Punjab.
Lahore/Peshawar:
At least seven people were killed and nearly 300 others injured across Pakistan in violent clashes between Imran Khan’s supporters and security forces in the past 24 hours as police clamped down on Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday to maintain law and order. Army was deployed in Balochistan provinces.
At least 14 government buildings/establishments were torched by supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party in Punjab province following the dramatic arrest of Khan in a corruption case on Tuesday, police said.
Law enforcement agencies have so far arrested 1,150 PTI supporters, including women, in Punjab alone. Two top leaders – PTI general secretary Asad Umar, former Punjab governor Umar Sarfaraz Cheema and PTI vice-chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi – were also arrested on Wednesday.
The situation remained tense in Lahore and several other cities of Punjab on Wednesday in the wake of the PTI chief’s arrest.
As the police failed to control the law and order situation in the province, the Punjab government asked for the deployment of the Pakistani army.
To control the situation, a request has been made to deploy 10 army companies in the province with a population of 12 crores. The Central Government has approved the deployment of the Army in Punjab.
“Protesters have set ablaze 14 government establishments/buildings and 21 police vehicles in Punjab. Over 130 officers and officials of security agencies have been injured. Police arrested 1,150 miscreants during clashes with security agencies and the state property was damaged, the Punjab Police said in a statement.
Police said those involved in setting fire to government establishments were being identified through video footage and strict action would be taken against them.
According to Khan’s party, one person each was killed in the cities of Lahore, Faisalabad and Burewala in Punjab. It said that more than 150 protesters were injured in Punjab alone.
Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab, is cut off from the rest of the country due to protests by PTI workers on almost all main roads.
The protesters had set it on fire after vandalizing the Corps Commander’s house in Lahore on Tuesday. They also pelted stones at the Governor’s House and attacked the ruling PML-N headquarters in Lahore, setting fire to vehicles parked there.
In footage circulating on various social media platforms, Khan’s supporters could be seen carrying club and party flags at the corps commander’s house in the cantonment area. They broke the main gate of the Corps Commander’s house. Video footage circulated on social media showed Khan’s supporters smashing window panes, TVs and furniture in the house, and setting trees and furniture on fire.
In another video, protesters were seen pelting stones and bottles at an army convoy on Mall Road in Lahore.
In Peshawar, at least four people were killed and 27 others injured in clashes between protesters and police, a spokesman for Lady Reading Hospital confirmed.
Radio Pakistan Director General Peshawar Tahir Hasan told the media that the protesters also set fire to the building of the state-run Radio Pakistan, causing heavy damage to the studio, auditorium and other facilities.
The Associated Press of Pakistan office in the building was ransacked and damaged.
In Islamabad, protesters clashed with the police and the Srinagar highway connecting the national capital to the international airport was blocked for several hours.
IG Islamabad Akbar Nasir Khan told the media that at least five policemen were injured.
“We are trying our best to maintain peace and disperse the miscreants,” he added.
As violence spread, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Islamabad also called in the army.
In Sindh, the government imposed section 144 to control the situation.
Police informed Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah that around 270 people have been arrested in the province.
Special Assistance to PM Atta Tarar told the media that no one is allowed to damage state property. “Action will be taken now. The miscreants are being identified through CCTV cameras. All will be arrested,” he said.
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhary asked his supporters to remain peaceful and said that attempts were being made to project the party as a violent party. He tweeted, ‘I want to tell my workers to keep the protest peaceful and foil the conspiracy to bring the army and the people face to face.’
Fawad said, “This country is ours and the army is also ours.”
On Tuesday, on the orders of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Khan was taken into custody by the paramilitary force Rangers from the premises of the Islamabad High Court, where he had come to attend a hearing in a corruption case.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)