Pakistani police have confirmed the arrest of former prime minister and leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan. Inspector General Akbar Nasir Khan explained that Khan was arrested in relation to the “al-Qadir fund” and described the situation in Islamabad as “normal”, adding that the situation will be monitored and action will be taken against those who transgress. The Al-Qadir University Project Trust involves Imran Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi and their close associates Zulfiqar Bukhari and Babar Awan.
According to the leaked documents Khan, Bushra Bibi, Bukhari and Awan formed a fund to set up Al-Qadir University so that the boys could be given a quality education in Jhelum’s Sohawa tehsil. Subsequently, the documents say, the trustees signed a memorandum of understanding with a private company involved in real estate to receive donations from the latter. The company has also assigned land to the fund.
The arrest
Khan was at a court hearing in Islamabad when he was overtaken and detained by paramilitary troops, a day after the Pakistani military issued a scathing statement against the former leader, accusing him of making false accusations against a senior government official. ‘intelligence. Khan, who was removed from office in a parliamentary vote of no confidence in April last year, is facing dozens of court cases on charges including terrorism and corruption.
The arrest immediately intensified the showdown between the government and Khan, a populist former cricket star, who has staged a political comeback in the months following his removal from office. His party has attracted tens of thousands to political rallies across the country, during which Khan and others have called for new elections and accused Pakistan’s powerful military establishment of orchestrating his ouster.
Political tensions around the former prime minister came to a head in November, when the former prime minister was injured during a political rally after an unidentified man opened fire on his convoy, in what aides called a assassination attempt. Since then, Khan has mostly stayed at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest city.
Fawad Chaudhry, a top aide to Khan, said threats to the former prime minister made court appearances much riskier.