Imran Khan gets bail: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan got bail in the Jinnah House attack case. In a big relief, Lahore Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) granted bail to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief till June 2. Further, the court also directed Khan to participate in the investigation.
Earlier on May 17, the Cantonment military police opened the historic Corps Commander Lahore House known as ‘Jinnah House’ for the public after it was torched by arsonists following the anti-government protests against the arrest of former Prime Minister Khan on May 9.
The Jinnah House in Lahore Cantonment was opened to the public primarily to show them the damage caused by the arsonists to the ‘historic monument’, an official of the Punjab government said. A large number of Khan’s party workers May 9 stormed the Jinnah House and set it on fire after vandalising it.
Khan was arrested on May 9
On May 9, Khan was arrested by paramilitary Rangers at the Islamabad High Court where he was attending a hearing for a corruption case. He was arrested just a day after he accused the powerful army of plotting to assassinate him.
Clashes erupted after the arrest of Khan. In addition to this, the violent protesters torched a static plane in the Mianwali district of Punjab, the hometown of Imran Khan and attacked the ISI building in Faisalabad.
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Army HQ came under attack in Rawalpindi
The Army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time. According to police over a dozen military installations were vandalised or torched during the two-day violent protests.
Law enforcement agencies have arrested over 7,000 PTI workers across Pakistan, 4,000 of them from Punjab for torching and vandalising the civil and military installations after violence erupted in the wake of Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9 in a land corruption case.
(With inputs from agencies)