Pakistan rangers fire live bullets on people as clashes continue outside former PM Imran Khan’s residence in Lahore

People run for cover after police firing tear gas shells to disperse them during clashes outside former Prime Minister Imran Khan`s residence, in Lahore, Pakistan, Tuesday, March 14, 2023. AP/PTI

Pakistan's police and paramilitary rangers on Wednesday fired live shells at country's former prime minister Imran Khan's residence in Zaman Park Lahore after people resisted the law enforcing agencies' bid to arrest Khan.

Khan's party the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf said the former premier's residence was under "extreme attack" as footage of the forces firing at the Zaman Park residence of Khan went viral on social media networks.

In the wee hours of Wednesday, many viral videos showed contingents of police and rangers approaching Khan's Zaman Park residence in Lahore where a stand-off between people and, police and rangers has been going on for more than 24 hours since Tuesday morning.

Pakistan media reported that a tense situation prevailed in the provincial capital Lahore as police accompanied by the army rangers made a fresh attempt to arrest the former prime minister Imran Khan but faced stiff resistance from thousands of people who have gathered outside Zaman Park.

The police has so far failed to arrest the former premier as people have laid siege to the path leading to Imran Khan's residence as well as the neighbouring Canal Road, ARY News reported.

On Tuesday night, thousands of people including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters took control of Zaman Park following an hours-long face-off with police and the army rangers who had arrived to arrest the former prime minister.

Khan has been charged of selling the state gifts and has been disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan in the now infamous Toshakhana reference under Article 63(1)(p).

Also read: My arrest part of London plan: Imran Khan

"Imran Khan being declared disqualified and unseated from his National Assembly seat," the ECP said, adding: "He has been disqualified under Article 63, 1(P), over submitting a false statement and declaration".

In a statement late on Tuesday, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said the government had nothing to do with the arrest warrant against Khan, and that the matter was up to the courts.

"Instead of cooperating with law enforcement officials, Imran Khan is breaking the law, defying court orders and using his party workers... as human shields to evade arrest and stoke unrest," she added.

‘Real intent is to abduct and assassinate'

After the deployment of Rangers on Wednesday, Khan said that the "real intent is to abduct and assassinate him" as the police have "now resorted to live firing".

"From tear gas & water cannons, they have now resorted to firing. I signed a surety bond last evening, but the DIG refused to even entertain it. There is no doubt of their mala fide intent," he said in a tweet.

In another video shared on PTI's Twitter account in the wee hours of Wednesday, the PTI chief said that his arrest was part of the "London plan".

The former prime minister also claimed that in order to "avoid anarchy", he had signed an undertaking and his counsel Ishtiaq A Khan tried presenting the surety to the Islamabad police deputy inspector general (DIG) sent to arrest him.

As the country is turning into a chaos and more precisely the Lahore turning into a battleground of sorts, the administration has announced the closure of all educational institutions in the city.

"All public and private educational institutions will remain closed in Garhi Shahu, Jail Road, Mall Road and Mian Mir," a notification issued by Lahore Commissioner Ali Randhawa read.

Zaman park operation

A team of Islamabad police on Tuesday reached Lahore to arrest Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan after a district and sessions court issued his non-bailable arrest warrants for failing to attend the hearing in Toshakhana reference.

The court of ADSJ Zafar Iqbal restored non-bailable arrest warrants for Khan in the Toshakhana reference. It instructed the police to arrest the PTI chief and present him in court by March 18.

In a statement, the Islamabad police spokesperson said that they have reached Lahore to arrest PTI chief on court orders. Later, people including Khan's supporters and police officials clashed outside his Zaman Park residence.

The police used randomly shot tearsmoke shells and used water cannons to disperse the people who had gathered outside the Khan's Zaman Park residence.

Meanwhile, the former United States Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has warned that the arrest of Imran Khan will deepen the crises being faced by the country.

Khalilzad tweeted that Pakistan was facing a triple crisis - political, economic, and security.

"Despite great potential, it is underperforming and falling far behind its archrival, India," Zalmay Khalilzad said, adding that it was time for serious "soul-searching, bold thinking, and strategising".

He said that the sequential cannibalising of its leaders through jailing, execution, assassination is the wrong path. "Arresting Imran Khan will only deepen the crisis," he noted.

Emergency committee formed

Meanwhile, the PTI Chairman has constituted a six-member ‘emergency committee' to overlook party matters in case of arrest, Dawn Newspaper reported.

The six-member committee - constituted to overlook party matters - included PTI vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Senator Saifullah Niazi, Senator Azam Swati, Ijaz Chaudhy, Murad Saeed and Ali Amin Gandapur.

The emergency committee will overlook the matters if Imran Khan gets arrested, as per a statement issued by the political party.

Nationwide protests

As soon as the news of the police action at Lahore's Zaman Park spread, a number of people came out on streets and blocked roads at several places in the country. The protests were reported from the financial capital Karachi, national capital Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sialkot and other major city centres.

Key details

Court orders to arrest Khan came in a case pertaining to his selling state gifts given by foreign leaders while he was prime minister.

Pakistan's election commission found him guilty in the matter and now a criminal inquiry is under way.

Khan says he broke no rules and sold the items legally.

Police say a court in Islamabad ordered Khan's arrest for not appearing before it despite repeated summons.

Khan and his aides cite security concerns for the non-appearance. He was injured in an attack on his protest gathering last year.

Khan says 76 cases have been registered against him since he was ousted by a parliamentary vote in April 2022, less than four years into his five-year term.

He has appeared in court for other cases. If convicted, Khan faces being barred from holding public office, which would be a setback for the cricketer-turned-politician with a national election scheduled for November.

If he is arrested, Khan's party has vowed to ramp up protests, which analysts say would add to the struggles of a government already hobbled by an economic crisis that has left the nuclear-armed country on the brink of default. (With inputs from agencies)