HASSAN ABDAL: Pakistani authorities have filed three separate cases against leaders and supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) following violent clashes during the party’s protest march.
The party’s founding chairman Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, Ali Amin Gandapur, Omar Ayub, Arif Alvi, and several members of the National and Provincial Assembly are named in the FIRs.
The cases were lodged at the Sadar Hassan Abdal police station.
The complaints, filed by senior police officers, including SHO Gulfraz Khan, SHO Muhammad Naeem, and Burhan outpost in-charge Asif Iqbal, accuse PTI workers and leadership of inciting violence.
The charges include terrorism, looting, and attempts to murder, with 23 sections applied to the FIRs. The incidents took place near Pathargarh, the Hazara Motorway, and near Burhan.
The FIR alleges that PTI supporters stole police equipment, including tear gas guns and riot gear, and looted a temporary police camp located at a government school.
The protesters reportedly seized over 80,000 rupees in cash, motorcycles, police uniforms, and other government property. Moreover, six police vehicles were set on fire and disabled during the clashes.
Authorities have confirmed the arrest of several PTI workers, with further raids expected to continue.
The police operation also targeted vehicles used in the protest. According to sources, over 35 vehicles, including Toyota vans, cars, and motorcycles, were seized from the scene near Jinnah Avenue in Islamabad.
Authorities have stated that they will register additional terrorism-related FIRs against the vehicles, with the owners’ records reportedly found during the investigation.
The protest vehicles, abandoned by fleeing protesters, were found parked near a petrol station on Jinnah Avenue. Meanwhile, a burnt container, used by Bushra Bibi during the protest, is also set to be confiscated by the authorities.
Following grand operation by the law enforcement agencies late on Tuesday night, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has called off its planned protest.
The party’s Information Secretary, Sheikh Waqas Akram, said the decision was made due to government brutality and concerns over plans to turn the capital into a “killing field for unarmed citizens.”
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political and Public Affairs, Rana Sanaullah, said that around 550 PTI workers had been arrested during cleanup operations against the protestors.
