Imran blames Pak Army chief for his arrest; returns to Lahore home

Lahore, PTI: Imran Khan has torn into Pakistan's Army chief General Asim Munir and blamed him for his "abduction" after a court here set the former prime minister free and barred his re-arrest in any case until Monday. A triumphant Khan returned to his Lahore home on Saturday after having locked himself in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises for hours for fear of re-arrest despite being granted bail on Friday.

Before leaving for Lahore, the 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief hit out at the “imported government for kidnapping” him despite the IHC granting him bail in all cases. “They have kidnapped me and forcibly kept me here. I want to tell the whole nation that it is their bad intention, they want to do something again and the whole nation should ready itself to protest,” he said.

After spending nearly 11 hours on the IHC premises, the ex-premier, clad in a sky blue shalwar kameez and a dark blue waistcoat, finally left the federal capital without addressing charged PTI workers who remained on the streets throughout the day.

Earlier, he interacted with media persons during the break time on the premises of the IHC on Friday, the Dawn newspaper reported on Saturday. When asked about the impression that security agencies were against him whereas the judiciary was favouring him, Khan told a BBC correspondent: “It's not the security agencies. It's one man, the Army chief."

"There is no democracy in the Army. The Army is getting maligned with what is happening”. “And he (the Army chief) is worried that if I come to power, I will de-notify him...All this is happening is direct orders from him. He is the one who is convinced that if I win, he will be de-notified,” alleged Khan.

In a major relief to Khan, the IHC on Friday granted him protective bail for two weeks in a corruption case and barred the authorities from arresting the former Pakistan prime minister in any case registered anywhere in the country until Monday.

Three different benches of the IHC granted relief to Khan who was escorted to the court amid tight security. Khan was arrested by paramilitary Rangers from the Islamabad High Court while he was undergoing a biometric process before a court hearing in a corruption case. The ex-premier also talked about the “victimisation” of his party by the government, alleging that “5,000 people have been arrested during the last one year”.

He said he had survived two assassination attempts and had only called for an investigation, regretting that his demand had been rejected. When another journalist asked Khan about getting relief from the Supreme Court which had never been provided to any other politician, the PTI chief said it could not be called a relief when he was still sitting in the court.

“I am sitting in the Islamabad High Court. They had no justification to arrest me. I was abducted. They showed me a warrant for the first time after taking me to jail. This happens only where there is a law of the jungle and where the Army abducts [people],” he said.