Former prime minister and PTI Chairman Imran Khan has been arrested from outside Islamabad High Court on Tuesday by personnel of the security forces, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The security personnel took away Imran Khan after detaining him in connection with a NAB reference. The former prime minister was taken into custody in the Al-Qadir Trust case from the IHC where he had gone to seek bail in multiple FIRs registered against him.
The former prime minister was loaded onto a black Vigo vehicle by the personnel of the law enforcement agency.
Imran Khan was arrested as per legal requirement under Al-Qadir Trust case and as per law he will be produced in an accountability court.
Earlier reports said Imran Khan was arrested by the Rangers but the paramilitary force was not involved in his arrest.
The National Accountability (NAB) had issued arrest warrant for Imran Khan on May 1 in relation to the case and also got it implemented themselves with the help of security personnel.
Confirming the arrest, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Dr Akbar Nasir Khan said that the situation is under control.
A Reuters witness said shortly after Imran entered the gate of the IHC, contingents of paramilitary forces and armoured personnel carriers entered after him.
Video broadcast on local TV channels showed Imran Khan -- who has a pronounced limp since being shot during an assassination attempt last year -- being manhandled by dozens of security men into an armoured car.
"As we reached court's biometric room to mark the attendance (biometrics), dozens of personnel attacked us," said Ali Bukhari, a PTI lawyer. "They beat him and dragged him out," he told AFP.
It was not immediately clear where he was taken.
PTI supporters clash with security officers
PTI leaders urged supporters to take to the streets after his arrest but police warned that an order prohibiting gatherings of more than four people would be strictly enforced.
It was not immediately clear if Imran Khan was being held at the Islamabad High Court, or had been moved elsewhere.
TV stations showed chaotic scenes outside the court as hundreds of PTI supporters clashed with security officers.
Imran Khan's arrest comes a day after the military warned him against making "baseless allegations" after he again accused a senior officer of plotting to kill him.
PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry confirmed the arrest in a tweet, saying the Islamabad High Court complex has been “occupied” by the Rangers and that lawyers were “being subjected to torture”.
Another PTI leader Musarrat Jamshed Cheema in a video posted on Twitter claimed “They have arrested Imran Khan, they are torturing him badly.”
Musarrat Cheema said “He went for his biometrics procedure from where he was picked by the Rangers.”
In a tweet, PTI said the Rangers have “abducted” Imran Khan. “Pakistan’s brave people must come out and defend their country,” the party posted.
According to reports, Imran Khan has been taken to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) office in Rawalpindi.
Prior to the arrest, PTI senior leader Fawad Chaudhry claimed that the IHC was occupied by Rangers, lawyers were being subjected to torture and Imran's car was surrounded.
Earlier, PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s convoy has entered the Islamabad High Court on Tuesday with security guards making a protective shield around the former prime minister.
There was quite a commotion inside the IHC.
The authorities have place an armoured personnel carrier outside the court.
Al-Qadir Trust case
Imran Khan along with his wife Bushra Bibi and other PTI leaders are facing a NAB inquiry related to a settlement between the PTI government and a property tycoon, which reportedly caused a loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer.
As per the charges, ther former prime minister and others accused allegedly adjusted Rs50 billion — 190 million pounds at the time — sent by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the government.
They are also accused of getting undue benefit in the form of over 458 kanals of land at Mouza Bakrala, Sohawa, to establish Al Qadir University.