Pak police release Imran Khan’s sisters after brief detention over row to meet him in jail

Islamabad: Pakistan police on Thursday released the sisters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his party leaders after a brief detention over the row to meet him in jail.

The 72-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder-leader has been incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail since 2023 and his family members and legal team are allowed to meet him twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Reportedly, Rawalpindi police had blocked the road to Adiala Jail by placing shipping containers and asked visitors who had come to meet Khan to go back.

However, the delegation, including the sisters of Khan and his party leaders, refused to go back.

As the stand-off continued, the police took action and arrested Khan’s three sisters, Aleema Khan, Uzma Khan and Noreen Khan, as well as PTI leaders Umar Ayub Khan, Qasim Niazi, Ahmad Khan and Hamid Raza and drove them to an unknown location.

Police sources said that they were later on released far away from the jail area.

Earlier, PTI spokesperson Sheikh Waqas Akram strongly condemned the arrest of the party leaders, calling it “extremely deplorable”.

Speaking to Geo News, he demanded the government to immediately release the detained PTI leaders and Khan’s sisters and warned of “strong public reaction” if the authorities didn’t stop using such tactics.

It was the second time this week that the police arrested the PTI leaders from outside the Adiala Jail. They were arrested in similar circumstances on Tuesday but released later on.

Similar scenes unfolded earlier this month when the sisters of Khan were stopped outside Adiala Jail, briefly detained, and later dropped far from the site.

Khan’ government was toppled in April 2022 and several cases were registered against him. He was arrested on August 5, 2023 and never released after that.

A Pakistani court on Tuesday approved two petitions filed by Khan, granting him the right to undergo a medical check-up and to speak with his children living in the UK.