Scores of PTI workers, leaders arrested as party demands Imran Khan’s release

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is carrying out protest rallies across the country, amid imposition of Section 144 in twin cities and crackdown of law enforcement agencies on the political public gatherings.

The Islamabad and Rawalpindi administrations have imposed Section 144, banning public gatherings and processions in the twin cities.

The PTI on its social media platforms has said numerous of its workers, including PTI leader Usman Dar’s mother Rehana Dar, were arrested in various parts of the country in a bid to stop them from staging rallies, as the former ruling party is marking the second anniversary of incarceration of PTI founding chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan today, with “peaceful protests”, demanding his release.

In a video shared by PTI on its social media accounts, PTI leader Salman Akram Raja said PTI leaders and workers were being arrested, tortured and their houses were being demolished.

“I am receiving information that nine MPAs have been arrested as yet,” he said.

Meanwhile, PTI parliamentarians and workers are heading towards the Adiyala jail, where Imran’s sisters are already present, to demand from the authorities to release the former prime minister.

Police arrested 120 activists of the main opposition party in raids overnight, security officials told Reuters, ahead of protests planned for Tuesday.

Most of the detentions, made on Monday night and early on Tuesday, were in the eastern city of Lahore, two police officers told Reuters, where Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party vowed its biggest demonstration, as well as protests elsewhere.

At least 200 activists had been arrested from Lahore, said party spokesperson Zulfikar Bukhari, adding that the protest would go ahead.

A day ago, PTI Punjab released a 12-page white paper titled “Detention of Former Prime Minister Imran Khan: Political Victimisation and Human Rights Abuses (August 2023-August 2025).”

Addressing a presser along PTI senior leader Barrister Ali Zafar, Head of the Media Cell for PTI Punjab Shayan Bashir said his party has decided to organise peaceful protests to mark second anniversary of Imran’s imprisonment.

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“We have always promoted peace, and our founder, Imran Khan, encourages us to remain peaceful. If Khan’s family is not allowed to visit him, we will stage a major protest outside Adiala Jail and continue to protest daily after August 5,” he said.

He asserted that some individuals wish to see PTI completely dissolved but it will not happen. Over the past four days, he reported that raids had been conducted on the homes of PTI workers, violating their privacy.

“In Lahore alone, over 200 raids took place in the last two days. The authorities are using brutal tactics, detaining individuals and demanding bribes for their release, and in some cases, asking them to sign affidavits,” he added.

Zafar said each case against the PTI founder is based on false accusations. When he spoke with Khan, the former prime minister expressed his commitment to fighting for the rule of law and his faith in the judiciary to deliver justice, he said.

Currently, the PTI leader stated, Khan is confined to a 10-foot room, and the authorities do not permit him to meet with his family freely. Recently, even his lawyers have been denied access, and cases have been filed against his wife to apply pressure on him, he maintained.

PTI’s white paper

The PTI’s dossier outlines a series of issues including political persecution, judicial manipulation, electoral interference, and state-led repression. It claims that Imran Khan has faced over 186 politically motivated FIRs across the country since August 2023.

According to the report, convictions in controversial cases, such as the Toshakhana reference, the cipher case, and the Al-Qadir Trust case, were delivered through closed-door trials that were characterised by procedural violations and media blackouts, in blatant defiance of Articles 10-A and 14 of the Constitution.

From the party’s perspective, the dossier emphasised violations of court orders, human rights abuses, electoral engineering, subversion of democracy, and suppression of peaceful protests.

The white paper makes several demands, including the immediate release of Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi, and all political prisoners who are jailed for peaceful expression or association. It also calls for the reversal of all politicied convictions and the initiation of fair retrials overseen by independent benches and international observers.

Furthermore, the document demands the formation of an impartial judicial commission to investigate police brutality, forced disappearances, attacks on peaceful protesters, and custodial torture.

In a message attributed to Imran on his party’s X account on Monday, he urged supporters to “come out and hold peaceful protests until a true democracy is restored in the country”.

The former cricket star was elected prime minister in 2018 but was ousted in 2022 through a no-trust vote in parliament.

His arrest in May 2023 sparked protests nationwide, leading to a crackdown on the party.

Imran, who denies any wrongdoing, dismisses as politically motivated the dozens of cases against him, ranging from terrorism to disclosure of official secrets.

He was convicted in January in a corruption case, while being acquitted of other charges or receiving suspended sentences.

Ahead of the protest call, hundreds of Imran’s party members, including several parliamentarians were convicted late last month on charges related to the 2023 protests against his arrest.

The PTI emerged as the single biggest party in the 2024 general election, and it says that rigging robbed it of more seats.

Other parties clubbed together to form a government under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, which denies coming to power through electoral fraud.