Pakistan: 'Illegal' Part Of Imran Khan's PTI Office Demolished In Islamabad In 'Anti-Encroachment' Drive

The CDA said that its anti-encroachment team launched an operation late Thursday to remove illegal construction and encroachment.

A portion of the Central Secretariat of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Islamabad has been demolished by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) over a “violation of building rules,"  Geo TV reported on Friday. The move drew strong condemnation from the party.

In a statement, the CDA said that its anti-encroachment team launched an operation late Thursday to remove illegal construction and encroachment. It further stated that encroachment by a "political party" was being eliminated and added that the plot was allotted in the name of Sartaj Ali.

The CDA stated that an additional floor was also constructed on the plot, violating the building rules, Geo TV reported. It further stated that it had issued notices to the party, but to no avail. Amid the operation, the PTI asked its workers to immediately arrive at the secretariat. The party said that the government has started demolishing the office in an "illegal and unjust manner." 

According to Geo TV, the government body said it had sent several notices to the Imran Khan-led party, its chairman, Barrister Gohar Khan, refuted the claims and said they did not receive any orders from the CDA. He further said that CDA officials were asked to provide documents regarding the operation, however, they failed to produce them.

"If there had been any encroachments and they had informed us about them earlier, we would have removed them ourselves," he insisted, as quoted by Geo TV.

Speaking to the media outside the office, PTI Secretary-General Omar Ayub strongly condemned the hour long operation carried out late-night, saying that the party would raise the issue of the CDA in the assembly. "The PTI condemns the CDA action in the strongest terms," he said.

Ayub said the city administration launched the operation at night without prior notice. He also stated that police authorities arrested party leader Amir Mughal.

After the completion of the operation, the CDA officials sealed the PTI's central office and also pasted the order on it. According to Geo TV, PTI activists resisted the attempts made by the government to demolish the office, leading to the arrest of some party workers by the capital city authorities.