More than 100 supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party have been arrested from different parts of Punjab province of Pakistan for staging rallies against alleged vote rigging, police said on Sunday.
On the call of party founder Imran Khan, supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party held protests across Pakistan on Saturday against the alleged “massive rigging” in the February 8 general elections.
Most arrests took place in Lahore where newly elected chief minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz ordered a clamp down on the protesting PTI supporters. “Police thrashed and arrested 80 workers and leaders in Lahore. Over 20 have been arrested in Gujrat city. Protests were held in 38 cities of Punjab and the federal capital Islamabad,” a PTI spokesperson said on Sunday.
In Lahore, police baton-charged protesters at GPO Chowk and Liberty Chowk. “PTI leaders Mian Shahzad Farooq and Afzaal Azeem Pahat, who contested the election last month against Maryam Nawaz and her uncle Shehbaz Sharif, respectively, were also arrested,” the spokesperson said.
Aftab Bajwa, the former bar secretary of the Supreme Court, was also arrested.
Punjab police said they arrested those protesters who blocked the road.
