“Pakistan’s biggest political leader was arrested,” said one of Khan’s closest allies,
Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been arrested by army rangers outside the Islamabad High Court
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, in an Urdu-language Tweet. “The world can see there is no law and order in Pakistan anymore.” Umar said Khan’s party had formed a six-member committee to decide on further actions.
It was not immediately clear why Khan was detained, given that he had been attending court hearings for cases he was embroiled in, to request bail.
Khan had dodged previous arrest attempts from his residence in Lahore with his supporters clashing with police, ultimately pushing them back.
Local media outlet Geo reported Khan was arrested in relation to a case filed in Pakistan’s anti-corruption court, which some analysts say is used to hound critics of the military.
The detention came after the Pakistan’s military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Ahmed Sharif released an usually sharply-worded statement against the former prime minister — warning him not to malign a serving officer, describing Khan’s claims as “highly irresponsible and baseless allegations,” which were “unfortunate, deplorable and unacceptable.”
That followed recent allegations made by Khan that a military intelligence official was leading behind a plot to kill him. To add insult to the allegations, Khan referred to him as “Dirty Harry,” from an old Clint Eastwood movie – allegations he doubled down on Tuesday, before reaching the court house.
