Islamabad’s police commander announced on Wednesday that Pakistani police had detained about 1,000 demonstrators who had marched on the city, calling for the release of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan.
Officers and state paramilitaries “have arrested 954 protesters in three days,” according to Islamabad Police Inspector General Ali Nasir Rizvi, who further stated that “610 of those arrests were made only on Tuesday alone.”
Following the eviction of crowds from the city centre in a massive security crackdown, Pakistani police reported on Wednesday that they had arrested about 1,000 protestors who marched on the capital seeking the release of imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan.
Khan has been incarcerated since August 2023, having been sidelined by numerous court proceedings that he says were fabricated to keep him from making a comeback in this year’s election-tampering scandal.
His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has regularly held demonstrations in defiance of a government crackdown since the February elections, but Tuesday’s gathering was by far the biggest to engulf the city since the election.
More than 10,000 protesters surged into the city on the weekend, defying a ban on public gatherings and a lockdown to skirmish with 20,000 security forces enlisted to turn them back.
The government said at least one police officer was slain in unrest on Monday, while four state paramilitary personnel were also reported killed when protesters ran them over in a vehicle on Tuesday.
The crowds aimed to occupy a public square outside parliament and the prime minister’s house.
Overnight, security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters wielding sticks and slingshots, as roadblocks were set ablaze.
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