Islamabad/Lahore: Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested by paramilitary Rangers on Tuesday while he was present at the Islamabad High Court for the hearing of a corruption case, a day after he took on the country's powerful army for allegedly hatching a plot to kill him.
Footage of the arrest showed scores of security personnel in riot-control gear whisking Khan away in a van as Khan's party called for protests across the country.
"Pakistan's people, this is the time to save your country. You won't get any other opportunity," the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party wrote on Twitter.
The arrest comes a day after the powerful army had accused Khan of levelling baseless allegations against a senior officer of the spy agency ISI.
The chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who travelled from Lahore to the federal capital Islamabad, was undergoing a biometric process at the court when the Rangers broke open the glass window and arrested him after beating lawyers and Khan's security staff, according to senior party leader Shireen Mazari.
"Mr Khan has been arrested in a land transfer case to property tycoon Malik Riaz and is being handed over to National Accountability Bureau (NAB)", a NAB official confirmed to PTI.
He said that Khan has been arrested in the Al-Qadir Trust case. "His arrest warrants were issued today morning and subsequently he is arrested," he said.
"What laws? Courts attacked by Rangers as if invading an occupied land - lawyers & IHC staff also beaten. This is Pakistan today - a fascist State where the High Court has been attacked by paramilitary forces," Mazari said.
"State terrorism - breaking into IHC premises to abduct Imran Khan from court premises. Law of the jungle in operation. Rangers beat the lawyers, used violence on Imran Khan and abducted him," tweeted Mazari.
The party alleged that Khan was being tortured but it was not confirmed independently.
The Dawn newspaper reported that IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq directed the Islamabad police chief, the interior ministry secretary and the additional attorney general to appear before the court within 15 minutes.
Chief Justice Farooq said that he was showing "restraint" and warned that he would summon the prime minister if the Islamabad police chief did not appear before the court.
"Come to court and tell us why Imran has been arrested and in which case, Justice Farooq was quoted as saying by the paper.
Islamabad police released a brief statement quoting Inspector General (IG) Akbar Nasir Khan as saying that Khan had been arrested in relation to the case which concerns allegations that Bahria Town allotted land worth Rs 530 million to Al-Qadir Trust, owned by the PTI chairman and his wife Bushra Bibi.
The police chief also said that the situation in Islamabad was "normal". He added that Section 144 had been imposed in the federal capital and action would be taken against violators.
Quoting Barrister Gohar Khan, who was at the court during Khan's arrest, Dawn said the former prime minister was "tortured".
"They hit Imran's head and leg...his wheelchair was also tossed aside during the arrest," Gohar was quoted as saying by the paper.
Former information minister and PTI Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said Khan has been abducted from Court premises and scores of lawyers and general people have been tortured. "Imran Khan has been whisked away by unknown people to an unknown location, CJ Islamabad High Court has ordered Secy interior and IG police to appear within 15 min in the court," he tweeted.
Another senior leader Hammad Azhar said that Khan's arrest was "not acceptable and asserted that the party chief "is our red line".
Khan has been facing a slew of cases since his ouster through a no-trust vote in April last year. He has rejected all these cases as political victimisation by the ruling alliance.
Currently, Khan is facing over 140 cases related to terrorism, blasphemy, murder, violence, and inciting violence.
Supporters storm Army HQ
Supporters of Imran Khan stormed the Pakistan Army headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi and the Corps Commander's residence in Lahore following his dramatic arrest.
As the news of his arrest by the Rangers spread, massive protests broke out in several cities across Pakistan. Protesters at several places turned violent and burned police vehicles and damaged public property.
The Rangers, which operate under the Interior Ministry, are usually commanded by officers on secondment from the army.
For the first time, Khan's supporters smashed the main gate of the army's sprawling headquarters in Rawalpindi, where troops exercised restraint. The protesters chanted slogans against the establishment.
In Lahore, a large number of PTI workers stormed into the Corps Commander's Lahore residence and smashed the gate and window panes. The army personnel present on duty there, however, did not try to stop the enraged protesters who surrounded them and chanted slogans against the handlers' of the PML-N-led government in the military establishment. The protesters held a demonstration in the Cantonment area.
Lahore was virtually cut off from the rest of the province because of the protest on main roads including the entry and exit points.
The caretaker Punjab government called the Rangers to control the law-and-order situation in the most populous province and imposed section 144 under which not more than five people can gather at one point.
According to the Home Department, the ban on gatherings will remain in place for two days.
The Punjab government also requested the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to suspend Internet and mobile services in the areas of the province where violent protests took place.
A large number of PTI workers also pelted stones at the residence of Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah in Faisalabad City. Similarly, protests were held in Multan, Jhang, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Khanewal, Vehari, Gujranwala, Hafizabad and Gujrat cities.
