Police arrest several lawmakers of jailed Imran Khan's party

The Pakistani police arrested several lawmakers and leaders of former prime minister Imran Khan's party in midnight raids a day after it held a major rally in the capital to demand his release, the party and police said on Tuesday.

The former cricket star, 71, has been in jail for over a year since his ouster in 2022 after a falling-out with powerful military generals, which has spawned the worst political turmoil in decades in economically unstable 241 million people nation.

A police spokesman confirmed the detention of four individuals but gave no details of charges. Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said nearly a dozen of its parliamentarians had been picked up in Islamabad. Others had sought refuge in parliament to evade law enforcers, it said.

Its lawmakers protested in a session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, calling for action against what they alleged was the illegal entry of law enforcement personnel into the premises of parliament.

"Plainclothes people entered parliament and arrested people's representatives — this is an assault on Pakistan's democracy," PTI legislator Ali Muhammad said.

National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq announced that he would investigate the complaints, which, if verified, could result in legal action. He ordered all detained lawmakers to be returned to parliament.

Media footage showed police pushing the lawmakers into vehicles outside parliament, a scene that Omar Ayub Khan, the party's leader of the opposition, called "despicable".

"Yesterday's massive protest has sent shivers down the government's spine," Khan's aide Zulfikar Bukhari said in a post on X, calling the detentions illegal.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Gandapur had threatened to free Khan from jail by force and incited his supporters to engage in violence.

• World