'A plan has been made to arrest me’: Imran Khan attacks Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan govt 

Former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan on Monday attacked the Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan government in an address to the nation. Khan said that the State is hatching a plan to arrest him on “false and baseless cases” and also denied any wrongdoing in all corruption cases against him.  

Khan was quoted as saying by ANI: “I want the nation to know how a plan has been made to arrest me on the basis of false and baseless cases. A lawyer is killed in Quetta and without any investigation and proof. Shahbaz Sharif’s advisor comes on TV on the same day and says that the murder was done by Imran Khan and later the video of the same lawyer’s widow shows who did it”. 

Before his address to the nation, Khan also said that he can prove that his arrest was “pre-planned” if he is put in an open court. He added his arrest was pre-planned for provocation and was used to crush the party when people reacted.  

While exhorting his supporters, the former Pakistan PM said: “This is not politics… this is jihad. We are slaves”. In May this year, Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) arrested Imran Khan from the Islamabad High Court premises on charges of corruption in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust.  

Khan owns the Al-Qadir Trust alongside his third wife Bushra Bibi. The Al-Qadir trust case alleges the PTI chief and his wife obtained billions of rupees and huge swathes of land from a real estate firm in lieu of PKR 50 billion that was identified and returned to Pakistan by the UK government.  

He also denied any wrongdoing in the Toshakhana case and land scam and claimed cheque payments in the purported land scam were made after Khan was removed as the Prime Minister.  

He said: “They have filed an anti-corruption case on Bushra Bibi alleging that a road was constructed in her village. They have also filed the case on me and my sister. These ‘duffers’ say that as PM I got them lands worth 6 million PKR at cheaper rates. But, look at the cheque numbers. The first cheque was given on April 25, 2022. The other cheque is on June 2. And I was not the PM since April 9”. He further said Toshakhana gifts were sold “as per the rules”.  

The Toshakhana case is related to allegations the former PM “deliberately concealed” information about the gifts he retained from the Toshakhana during his time as the PM and proceeds from their sales. Toshakhana is a government repository where presents given to government officials by foreign dignitaries and officials are kept.  

Talking about his arrest, Khan claimed he was “arrested like a terrorist despite being on bail” and even the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared his arrest illegal after the cases were piled up against him. Following Khan’s arrest, PTI organised demonstrations, which turned violent in several places.  

Pakistan administration cracked down heavily on those accused and made several arrests. People accused in the violence that followed Imran Khan’s arrest are being tried at military courts.  

Khan added: “16 innocent Pakistanis, 9 people are missing but there is no inquiry and no one is talking about it. Is this a free society? Do these Pakistanis have no rights? Aren’t their wives and children family?” 

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