Islamabad: Police on Sunday arrived at Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan’s Zaman Park residence in Lahore to arrest him after he failed to appear in the court in the Toshakhana (gift depository) case, reported state news agency Geo News.
Reacting to the news, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party senior vice president Fawad Chaudhry tweeted, “Any attempt to arrest Imran Khan will seriously worsen the situation.”
Party workers were asked to immediately arrive at Imran’s residence and they surrounded it to stop his probable arrest. They also raised slogans in their leader’s support and criticising the Shehbaz Sharif government.
Reports, however, suggested that Imran was not present at his house when the police arrived.
Notably, additional sessions judge Zafar Iqbal issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him in the Toshakhana case on February 28 because of his repeated failure to appear before the court. The arrest warrant ordered for presenting Imran Khan in court by March 7 after taking him into custody. Accordingly, the Inspector General of Islamabad issued an order to ensure that he is arrested by this date.
Imran Khan was charged with unlawfully selling gifts that he received as the premier from the state depository called Toshakhana. Pakistani media reported that Imran earned Rs 36 million from the sale of three expensive watches gifted by visiting dignitaries from friendly Gulf countries.
In October 2022, Imran Khan was banned from holding public office for five years in the Toshakhana case by a five-member bench of Pakistan’s election commission following an appeal by Pakistan’s ruling alliance, seeking his lifetime disqualification for not disclosing information regarding the gifts in his assets declaration.
