Pakistan: Police Retake Control Of Ex-PM Imran Khan's Lahore Residence, Says Report

Lahore police removed pickets, bunkers, protest camps, tents, and speed bumps from around Khan's Zaman Park residence on Saturday.

File Photo Of Pakistan's Former Prime Minister Imran Khan ( Image Source :PTI )

Authorities in Pakistan's Punjab province took complete control of the area surrounding Imran Khan's residence in Lahore on Saturday (May 20), months after the ousted prime minister's irate supporters began camping there to prevent his arrest in the Toshakhana corruption case. Lahore police removed pickets, bunkers, protest camps, tents, and speed bumps from around Khan's Zaman Park residence, as per media reports. 

Punjab Police met Khan, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, on Friday to arrest alleged "terrorists" hiding there and handed him a list of 2,200 suspects involved in the May 9 protests that targeted military installations and government buildings.

"We have taken complete control of security at Zaman Park because no Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers were present outside Khan's residence," Punjab caretaker government information minister Amir Mir was quoted as saying by the Geo News.

Mir stated that the only thing left is to conduct a raid on Khan's premises. According to the minister, the PTI chairman remained defiant and refused to allow police to search his home.

"We will make a decision on how to proceed in this matter soon," he said.

Khan, 70, has stated that he has no objections to security agencies conducting a search of his home, but that it should be done in accordance with the guidelines established by the Lahore High Court.

READ | Pakistan's Punjab Police Gets Warrant To Search Ex-PM Imran Khan's Residence: Report

In March, clashes erupted between law enforcement and Khan's supporters, who had taken complete control of Zaman Park to prevent Khan from being arrested in the Toshakhana case.

The Toshakhana is a department of the Cabinet Division that stores valuable gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states, as well as foreign dignitaries.

On May 9, Khan was apprehended by the paramilitary Pakistan Rangers on the premises of the Islamabad High Court, causing widespread unrest throughout the country.

Protesters stormed the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and set fire to a corps commander's house in Lahore for the first time in Pakistan's history.

A delegation led by Lahore Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhawa, Lahore Deputy Commissioner Rafia Haider, and DIG Operations Sadiq Dogar paid a 90-minute visit to Khan at his Zaman Park residence.

They gave him the names of those involved in the attack on the Lahore Corps Commander House and Askari Tower, as well as evidence.

Mir claimed that the former premier was given a list of 2,200 "wanted people" involved in the attacks on military installations on May 9, and that these people were tracked down using geofencing. "Among these people are also people from his family who have been on the list," he told Geo News.