A fresh crackdown has been launched allegedly by the Pakistan Army against jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party in a bid to change their loyalties to parties backed by the military.

The confrontation between Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the military comes after the party won the lion’s share in the Pakistan general elections on February 8. The police arrested successful independent candidates backed by the PTI, and conducted raids on their properties across Punjab province, party sources said.

Arrest warrants have been issued for the PTI-nominated candidates for the slot of chief minister in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has also summoned Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan for inciting the public against the state.

PTI’s candidate for the Prime Minister Omar Ayub on Friday secured pre-arrest bail from a local court in anticipation of his possible arrest to stop him from going to parliament and competing against the PML(N)-led six-party alliance candidate Shehbaz Sharif.

Omar said that PTI-backed MNA (Member of the National Assembly) from Sialkot, Aslam Ghumman had been abducted by unknown people, referring towards intelligence agencies.

“Ghumman is being forced to leave PTI and join PML-N. Condemn this rigging process and enforced disappearances in the strongest words possible,” Ayub said on X (formerly Twitter).

In Lahore, the police have arrested PTI-backed MPA-elect Ahmar Rasheed Bhatti from Raiwind in connection with the May 9 riots cases. The police’s post-election action came when the PTI was celebrating his victory at his outhouse.

Dozens of military and state buildings, including the Army headquarters in Rawalpindi and the ISI building in Faisalabad, were torched and vandalised by many PTI activists during the unprecedented violence that broke out after Khan’s arrest in an alleged corruption case on May 9 last year.

Similarly, the Punjab police raided the factories, mills and godowns of PTI-backed MNAs-elect from Gujranwala — Mobeen Arif Jutt and Ehsanullah Virk — and sealed them.

The authorities continue to use the May 9 violence as a weapon to pressure the PTI-backed winners of the February 8 polls to change loyalties.

The Punjab police issued fresh warrants for PTI leader Aslam Iqbal in May 9 cases. Iqbal is the PTI candidate for Punjab chief minister against PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz who is the daughter of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.