Pakistan police raid Imran Khan's house after ex-PM heads to court
Pakistan’s police have raided the residence of former Prime Minister Imran Khan as he arrived in Islamabad to attend a court hearing over graft charges, officials from his political party said.
Police stormed the home of Khan in Lahore on Saturday and arrested 61 people, hours after his departure.
The former prime minister was summoned by the court in relation to charges of unlawfully selling state gifts given to him by foreign dignitaries during his time in office.
According to senior officer Suhail Sukhera, police moved on the property to remove 'encroachments' and 'blockades' erected by Khan's Tehreek-e-Insaf party and his supporters.
He said that Khan’s supporters tried to resist police by throwing stones and petrol bombs. He claimed that police entered Khan's residence after a man on the roof of the property started shooting.
Sukhera said police found masks, petrol-filled bottles, iron rods, and batons inside Khan's residence.
Security forces arrested many of his supporters and removed sandbag barricades and shipping containers installed by them outside his house.
Khan said in a Tweet on Saturday that his wife was at the property.
Khan also said that he expected to be arrested as he headed to Islamabad. The former PM also claimed that he was the target of a plot to stop him from standing in elections due by October.
"I am going to the Islamabad court right now. I want to tell you all that they have made a plan to arrest me," he said in a video message from the motorway.
"The point of their attack on my house was not to present me before the Islamabad court. The purpose was to put me in jail," he added.
Khan was ousted by a no-confidence vote last year. An arrest warrant was issued against him in relation to his non-appearance in the Islamabad court to answer the graft charges.
Khan had been at his Lahore home since Tuesday, after failing to appear at an earlier hearing in the city, citing 'security' concerns.
The warrant, however, was lifted on Friday, after attempts by police to arrest him led to pitched battles with supporters outside his residence.
“The Islamabad High Court has suspended non-bailable arrest warrant," said Faisal Chaudhry, a senior member of Khan's legal team. "Now Imran will appear in the court tomorrow," he said Friday.
The former prime minister says he fears for his life if detained, and that authorities want him jailed to prevent him from contesting an election.
Last year Khan was shot in the leg during a political rally, an assassination bid he blamed on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
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