Police crackdown on PTI top-tier leadership continues

The police on Friday expanded its crackdown on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) top-tier leadership as the party's Senior Vice-President Shireen Mazari and ex-Punjab health minister Dr Yasmin Rashid were arrested from Islamabad and Lahore, respectively.

Mazari was apprehended at her residence during a pre-dawn raid in Islamabad under section 3 of Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) while Dr Rashid was arrested from an unknown place in Lahore.

The former provincial minister was hiding to avoid the arrest, PTI‘s senior leader Andaleeb Abbas said.

Police had taken her close family members into custody two days ago but her husband was released after his health deteriorated. Dr Rashid’s brother-in-law is still in police custody, Abbas said.

There are a number of cases filed against Dr Yasmin Rashid including that of an attack on Lahore Corps Commander's residence.

The two women politicians’ arrests come after several other PTI leaders were taken into custody since Tuesday’s violent protests that erupted after Imran Khan was arrested from the premises of the Islamabad High Court on May 9.

Other PTI leaders currently under arrest include Asad Umar, Fawad Chaudhry, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Ali Mohammad Khan, and Senator Ejaz Chaudhry.

All these leaders, except Khan, were arrested under MPO, according to the authorities.

Meanwhile, sources told Geo News on Friday that PTI leaders Khusro Baktiar, Afzal Sahi and Bilal Basra have also been rounded up and shifted to Lahore's Sarwar Road Police Station. 

Khan’s arrest ‘illegal’

In a significant legal victory for the PTI on May 11, the Supreme Court declared Imran Khan's arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust case "illegal" and ordered the authorities to release him "immediately".

The apex court had sent the PTI chief to the Police Lines Guest House, with instructions to present himself before the IHC by 11am Friday, the same court which declared his arrest legal.

The court has also established the precedent that no person will be arrested within the premises of a court. Additionally, the top court has permitted Imran Khan to stay with his family tonight.