Amid clashes police retreat from imran’s residence after court order

Amid clashes police retreat from imran’s residence after court order

Former Pakistan PM gets temporary relief from arrest after the Lahore High Court directs officials to stop the operation at his residence till 10 a.m. today; Imran says the arrest warrant is an attempt to prevent him from contesting elections.

In a temporary relief for Imran Khan, a Pakistani court on Wednesday ordered the police to stop its operation outside the former Prime Minister’s residence in Lahore to arrest him in a corruption case, amid clashes between the security personnel and his supporters.

Zaman Park where Mr. Khan lives remained under siege for the past two days and the government sent the elite Rangers to aid the police teams who struggled on Tuesday to muscle their way through a ring of enraged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) supporters to arrest party chairman Mr. Khan. The clashes on Tuesday left over 70 people injured, including 59 policemen.

The police, with their riot gear o”, closed in on Mr. Khan’s home to comply with the court orders to arrest the 70-year-old cricketer-turned-politician in the Toshakhana case.

However, the police withdrew from the area after the Lahore High Court ordered them to stop their operation till 10 a.m. on Thursday. The court summoned the Punjab Inspector-General, Chief Secretary and Islamabad police (operations) head on a petition filed by PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry seeking order for the government to stop the police action at Mr. Khan’s residence. Mr. Khan’s party on Tuesday challenged the police operation in the court, requesting it to direct the government to end its bid to arrest the party chief.

‘Rule of the jungle’

Mr. Khan, in an interview with news agency Agence France-Presse, said: “They want me in jail so that I cannot contest elections”.

“There were so many cases, they would have just kept me in jail. And the whole idea was to miss the elections. This abduction had nothing to do with rule of law,” he said. “It’s the law of the jungle.”

After the Pakistan Rangers and the police personnel retreated, Mr. Khan came out of his residence, donning a gas mask, and met the party workers. His supporters cheered “chasing the Rangers away”.

In a tweet, the party said that more workers were reaching Zaman Park and vowed not to let the “impure intentions” of the coalition government succeed.