Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Monday claimed he did not disembark from his vehicle outside the Judicial Complex in Islamabad on Saturday because “unknown people” were strategically placed there with plans to kill him, according to a report by Pakistan-based news outlet the Dawn.
The former prime minister said that a death trap was laid outside the judicial complex on Saturday prior to his arrival.
“They wanted to kill me or arrest me and take me to Balochistan to hold me in jail until the elections are over,” the former prime minister said.
“Had I not moved from the complex immediately that might have resulted in bloodshed as the police, Rangers and unidentified people were making all-out efforts to provoke my party workers to create a battleground and use it as a cover to kill me,” Imran Khan was quoted as saying by news agency the Dawn.
Meanwhile a video has been making rounds of Twitter, where PTI cadres are seen acting as a human shield, laying on the front hood and roof of Imran Khan’s car as fellow cadres clashed with police, pelting stones at each other and also lobbing tear gas grenades at one another.
Where was this? Is this outside Islamabad Judicial Complex? Was Imran Khan inside this vehicle? Please comment & let all understand pic.twitter.com/lTVuPhUV0U— Moeed Pirzada (@MoeedNj) March 20, 2023
News18 could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.
Imran Khan’s reaction came after Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz faction (PML-(N)) leader chief organiser Maryam Nawaz said that the PTI should be treated like a terrorist group last week.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the coalition of parties which ousted Imran Khan via a no-confidence vote in 2022, on Monday also doubled down on their criticism of Imran Khan and his party and called the PTI a “clique of terrorists”.
Imran Khan also continued his attack on the government, the Pakistan army and state institutions like the Pakistan election commission and urged PTI workers abroad to launch protests against the government.
He also called Maryam Nawaz a “queen of lies”.
Meanwhile, Imran Khan has asked his supporters in large numbers outside Lahore’s Minar-e-Pakistan on March 22 in a show of strength. He warned that if the government “failed to show restraint” then the “game will get out of hand”.
Police also barged into his Lahore home on Saturday, hours after he departed for Islamabad to attend the hearing in the Toshakhana Reference case which alleges that Imran Khan sold gifts from foreign officials from the Toshakhana - a repository of gifts given to Pakistani officials during state visits and other events.
He said he will file cases against police officers involved in the operation.
The Lahore administration claims that the police entered Khan’s residence with a search warrant and entered only after they and the PTI representatives reached an agreement.
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