Mianwali police 'raid' PTI leader Omar Ayub's house after ATC Sargodha issues arrest warrants

ISLAMABAD: Authorities have scrambled law enforcement agents for Omar Ayub, the Secretary General of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), following an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Sargodha issuing warrants for his arrest, multiplying the beleaguered political party’s ongoing legal woes.

Ayub, who is the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, confirmed in a post on X that warrants for his arrest had been issued and criticised the authorities for being so "desperate" to apprehend him.

"Bailable arrest warrants were issued for me by ATC Sargodha, but Mianwali Police and Islamabad Police teams came to my Islamabad house to arrest me a few minutes ago," he said in the post.

The PTI leader, whose resignation from the secretary general post was recently rejected, further said: "The federal government, Punjab government, and agencies must be very desperate to arrest the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly."

Adding to his tirade, he said, "They will prove beyond doubt that there is no rule of law in Pakistan," and vowed that the party would continue its struggle until PTI founder Imran Khan returns to power.

The PTI's top brass has been entangled in legal battles since the party's ouster from the government in April 2022 as they held back-to-back anti-government protests across the country. But the situation worsened when the party's workers ransacked and attacked state installations on May 9, after the party founder was arrested in a graft case. This led to the arrest of several leaders and workers, while others left the party.

Although PTI claims that the cases against its workers and leaders are "baseless" and that those in power want to "victimise" them, the government denies all such allegations.