Pak police launch 'major operation' at former PM Imran Khan's Lahore residence

Over 10000 policemen launched a major operation at Imran Khans Zaman Park residence here and arrested dozens of workers of his party even as the former Pakistan prime minister is in Islamabad to attend a hearing in Toshakhana reference caseThe police personnel removed barricades from the entrance of the Pakistan TehreekeInsaf PTI party chiefs residence and removed all camps the PTI activists had erected to protect their leaderDuring the operation some 10 workers reportedly were injured and over 30 were arrestedFootages on social media show police beating PTI workers after entering Khans residence where the 70yearold leader said his wife Bushra Bibi is also presentPunjab caretaker government information minister Amir Mir told reporters that the police operation has been launched to clear the Zaman Park areaZaman Park had become a nogo area As many as 10000 Punjab police took part in the operation to clear it We had also reports that the members of banned organisations were also hissing there he saidThe minister further said a number of PTI workers have been taken into custodyDuring the operation Mir said three policemen and six PTI workers suffered injuriesAlso read We want to normalize relations with Islamabad Indiarsquos envoy to Pakistan at Lahore eventHe said that police had search warrants for Imran Khans residence The antiterrorism court had issued the search warrants of Khans residence and only after that police entered his house he saidThe ousted prime minister decrying the police operation tweeted As I left for Islamabad to attend Toshakhana hearing meanwhile Punjab police have led an assault on my house in Zaman Park where Bushra Begum is aloneUnder what law are they doing this This is part of the London Plan where commitments were made to bring absconder Nawaz Sharif to power as quid pro quo for agreeing to one appointmentKhan in a video message said the incumbent government wanted to put him in jail at the demand of its exiled leader Nawaz Sharif They wanted to hold elections after sending me to jail They have completely been exposed he saidTodays action comes as the Lahore High Court earlier on Friday granted a request by Punjab IGP Dr Usman Anwar to search Khans Zaman Park residence as part of an investigation into attacks on police teams Dawn newspaper reportedKhan also tweeted the siege of Lahore was not about ensuring his appearance in the court but aimed at imprisoning him and preventing him from leading the PTIs election campaignThe PTI leader has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana and selling them for profitEstablished in 1974 the Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers parliamentarians bureaucrats and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitariesKhan was disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan in October last year for not sharing details of the salesThe election body later filed a complaint with the district court to punish him under criminal laws for selling the gifts he had received as prime minister of the countryKhan who has vehemently denied those charges is set to be indicted in the caseMeanwhile Islamabad police have issued a traffic advisory stating that due to tight security measures around the Judicial Complex in G11 citizens may face difficulty in traffic movement leading to inconvenienceThe Islamabad administration on Friday night imposed Section 144 in the capital prohibiting private companies security guards or individuals from carrying weapons It is mandatory for drivers to carry their vehicle registration documents while drivingThe government had on Friday shifted the venue of the additional sessions court to a comparatively safer Judicial Complex for the hearing of the case after the PTI raised security concerns Dawn reported With inputs from PTI