LAHORE, March 17, 2023: Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Anwar on Friday filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC), seeking access to the residence of PTI Chairman Imran Khan as party workers have fortified Zaman Park in the Punjab capital.
The petitioner pleaded the court to provide uninterrupted access to Imran Khan’s home and the scene where clashes erupted between law enforcers and PTI workers. He said there were reports of presence of members of a banned outfit.
He said several police officials, including the DIG Operations Islamabad, were injured in the clashes, adding that the residents of Zaman Park were approaching police for registration of cases over the incidents of March 14 and 15. He said police had registered four cases wherein several PTI leaders and workers had been booked.
He said police were unable to investigate the cases as the court had ordered withdrawal of police. The top police officer said they needed access to the crime scene to collect evidence and launch a probe.
Scores of supporters of Imran Khan barricaded his home on Friday to protect him as the former prime minister waited to hear a ruling on whether security forces could launch an operation to arrest him for failing to show up in court. A tense calm prevailed in Mr Khan’s Lahore neighbourhood which earlier this week was the scene of pitched battles between hundreds of supporters and security forces that had tried to force the former international cricketer to attend a hearing in a case.
He is accused of selling state gifts given to him while he was prime minister.
Even though there was no police presence on Friday, witnesses said Mr Khan’s supporters, armed with batons and iron rods, remained stationed outside his home.
