By Staff Reporter
RAWALPINDI: Police on Thursday briefly detained senior opposition leaders, including sisters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, after a confrontation near Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail where they were denied permission to meet the ex-premier, officials and party members said.
National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub Khan, Punjab provincial opposition leader Ahmed Khan Bhachar, and Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza—an ally of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party—were among those held. Khan’s sisters, Aleema Khan and Uzma Khanum, his cousin Qasim Khan, and PTI leader Aliya Hamza were also detained before being released hours later.
The arrests occurred at a checkpoint near the jail, where PTI leaders had gathered to demand access to Khan, who is serving sentences in multiple cases.
Police presented warrants before moving seven individuals into a prison van, according to witnesses.
“They are arresting the Leader of the Opposition in broad daylight,” Ayub told reporters as he was detained. “What kind of law is this? There is always a rule of law in a hard state. Our ancestors rendered sacrifices for this nation.”
PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram condemned the detentions as “deplorable,” warning of public backlash if such measures continued.
Authorities released Thursday’s detainees near Rawalpindi’s Chakri Interchange without charges, local media reported.
The incident follows clashes last week between PTI supporters and police outside the same jail, during which officers baton-charged protesters and arrested dozens. Ayub had mediated to defuse tensions at the time.
Khan’s PTI has faced a widespread crackdown since his 2022 ouster via a parliamentary no-confidence vote. The party alleges thousands of its members have been arrested, and claims of electoral fraud in February’s vote have fueled protests.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar denied restricting access to Khan, stating the former premier—jailed since August 2023—is permitted “multiple meetings weekly,” a privilege he called unprecedented for a convict.
Tarar alleged internal PTI divisions between factions loyal to Khan’s sisters and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were to blame for the dispute. “This is their internal conflict—not state policy,” he told a local television on Wednesday.
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