Pakistan unrest: Imran Khan, 1500 PTI workers booked for attacking army officer's Lahore house

Man stand in the burnt auditorium of the Radio Pakistan building a day after protests by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party activists and supporters of former Pakistan`s Prime Minister Imran Khan, in Peshawar on May 11, 2023. Pic/AFP

Pakistan's Punjab police have booked former prime minister Imran Khan and 1,500 of his party workers for attacking and setting on fire a top army officer's house in Lahore.

Enraged over the arrest of their leader in a corruption case on Tuesday, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief's supporters on Wednesday stormed the General Headquarters of the Army. They set residence of the Lahore Corps Commander on fire while attacking military vehicles and installations.

The PTI chairman, his deputy Shah Mahmood Qureshi and others have been named under murder, terrorism and 20 other heinous offences for attacking the Corps Commander House known as 'Jinnah House' in Lahore Cantonment on Tuesday. Khan and others have also been charged with looting valuables worth over 150 million rupees from the Jinnah House.

According to the FIR filed on Wednesday, two people were killed in the attack. It said over 1,500 PTI workers and leaders attacked the army officer's house at the behest of Khan and other senior leaders of the party. Following the arrest of Khan in a corruption case by the Pakistan Rangers in Islamabad on Tuesday, his supporters attacked senior officers' residences and the Pakistan Army's installations in different parts of the country.

An anti-corruption court on Wednesday sent 70-year-old Khan on an eight-day physical remand to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). His dramatic arrest on Tuesday sparked widespread violent protests across Pakistan, leaving at least eight people dead and nearly 300 others injured in clashes between protesters and law enforcement agencies. The PTI supporters have held the army responsible for Khan's arrest.

Also read: Imran Khan Arrest: 8 killed, 290 injured in violent protests in Pakistan

Separately, the Punjab police registered dozens of FIRs against the PTI leadership and workers for injuring police officials, damaging and looting public property and raising "highly objectionable" slogans against the Pakistan Army. On Wednesday, protestors set ablaze Askari Tower in the Gulberg area. The plaza is reportedly owned by the son of former army chief Gen (retd.) Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Police named 1,200 PTI workers for killing a man while setting on fire and ransacking the tower. They also booked Khan in this case, saying he was behind the attack. The protesters also set ablaze Shadman police station in Lahore. Their attempt to enter the Governor House and the Chief Minister Secretariat in Lahore was foiled by the police and Rangers.

Meanwhile, the police have claimed that they have arrested Khan's 76 supporters who attacked the Pakistan Army's General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi.
An FIR has also been registered against 300 miscreants including PTI's main regional leader Bashart Raja.

According to the Punjab police, over 1,400 people have been arrested across the province in the wake of widespread violence.

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