Islamabad police on Monday denied they had arrested PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, saying they have taken into custoday only party information secretary Raoof Hasan on charges of operating a social media cell allegedly involved in running anti-state propaganda, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
The police said that they only arrested Raoof Hasan during a raid conducted on the PTI central secretariat on the basis of evidence. "The PTI digital media centre had become a hub of international disinformation, from where anti-Pakistan propaganda was being run throughout the world," added the police.
Police said those directly involved in the anti-national propaganda were arrested and all the evidence from the PTI’s digital media cell was also seized.
In a phone talk, Gohar Ali Khan said he was not arrested by the police rather he accompanied Raoof Hasan to Police Lines as he was not feeling well.
Later, police told him that he was not wanted in any case and can leave, Gohar said, adding the police dropped him at his home.
Earlier there were reported that the police have arrested Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and spokesperson Raoof Hasan from party secretariat in Islamabad.
The police also seized records from the PTI secretariat located in sector G-8 of the federal capital, taking away all the documents and computers.
Earlier, a heavy contingent of police including women officers has arrived at the secretariat and surrounded it. The police also sealed all routes leading to the PTI secretariat
The police raid on the PTI secretariat was led by SSP Hassan Jahangir Wattoo. A police prisoners van was also deployed at the PTI secretariat.
Details of the charges against the detained PTI leaders have not yet been disclosed. Authorities have also not commented on the specifics of the raid or the evidence leading to the arrests.
Meanwhile, the PTI condemned the arrests, labelling them as politically motivated. The opposition party slammed the law enforcers and said they were disregarding the law.
"It’s absolutely shameful how Islamabad police continues to completely mock and disregard every law in this country. Law of the jungle is reigning over Pakistan!" PTI said in a statement on X platform.
A heavy contingent of police was present at the PTI secretariat which did not arrest another PTI leader, Shibli Faraz, when he arrived there.
Later, a team of Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) reached at the PTI Secretariat; however no one so far was handed over to the Agency.
PTI founder Imran Khan’s lawyer Ali Ijaz Buttar confirmed that Gohar Ali Khan and Raoof Hasan have been arrested by the Islamabad police from the party’s office. “I just received a call from the party’s office informing that 300 to 400 policemen arrived there and arrested PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar and Information Secretary Raoof Hasan,” Buttar wrote on the X platform.
PTI leader Khurram Sher Zaman claimed that police personnel were confiscating documents and equipment from the party’s office. “We’ve been informed that they’ve locked staff in a room and waiting for prison van to arrive and have taken computers and important documents,” he wrote on X.
An AFP journalist at the scene saw the PTI headquarters sealed off by officers, who led a number of party workers into waiting vans.
Pakistani media initially reported party chairman Gohar Ali Khan, a barrister, was among those taken away. However, an official at Islamabad Police, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the media, told AFP that they had not arrested him.
The official confirmed the arrest of Raoof Hasan, a founding member of the party and head of its press department. "Raoof Hasan was arrested but the police did not arrest Gohar Ali Khan," the police official said.
In the past two months at least 10 members of PTI or their relatives have been rounded up, Hasan told AFP on Saturday. He said they had "disappeared" with "no trace".
"Seven of them are from my department alone, which they want to cripple because we refuse to stay silent," he said.
Reporter Tayyab Saif