Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested by the country’s anti-corruption force on Tuesday, in a move likely to further inflame the country’s volatile political climate.
The 70-year-old opposition figure was detained by the National Accountability Bureau outside the court in Islamabad where he was due to face graft charges.
“Imran Khan has been arrested because he was being sought in a graft case,” Pakistan’s interior minister Rana Sanaullah said at a press conference, adding that the allegations related to the purchase of land by a charitable trust controlled by Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi.
The arrest of Pakistan’s most popular politician follows months of protests by supporters of the former premier, who was ousted by lawmakers in a no-confidence vote last April.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party demanded his immediate release, and encouraged his supporters to “come out” for protests. Police in Lahore were put on a high alert after they began gathering in the city centre.
The PTI party said in a tweet that paramilitary “rangers [had] abducted” Khan, posting video that showed the former cricket star turned conservative politician being dragged into an armoured vehicle by a crowd of government agents, many carrying riot shields and wearing helmets.
Arrest threats against Khan earlier this year had sparked protests in the capital, Islamabad, and police clashed with Khan’s supporters outside his residence in the central city of Lahore in March.
“Things are already very bad and this will only aggravate Pakistan’s situation,” said Ayaz Amir, a former member of parliament. “The manner in which Khan was arrested will not leave a good impression on anyone.”
Khan lost the vote of no confidence last year after his premiership, which began in 2018, became mired in economic problems.
The defiant former premier has since locked horns with his successor Shehbaz Sharif, claiming he had been ousted in a western-backed plot. The further deterioration of Pakistan’s economy has increasingly pushed support towards Khan and away from Sharif.
Khan was shot while taking part in a protest convoy in Wazirabad in November, and suffered a leg injury.
National elections are due to be held in October in the nuclear-armed nation, but Khan faces a barrage of legal challenges that could disqualify him from running, including allegations that he unlawfully sold gifts he received while serving as prime minister.
Shireen Mazari, a senior PTI leader, questioned the legitimacy of the former prime minister’s arrest: “In the specific matter of this land case, Imran Khan was not issued with any notice ahead of his arrest. He was suddenly picked up after being attacked viciously.”
The arrest came the day after Pakistan’s powerful army criticised Khan for accusing a senior general of backing the failed assassination attempt against him.
“These fabricated and malicious allegations [by Khan] are extremely unfortunate, deplorable and unacceptable,” the army said in a rare statement on Monday.
“This has been a consistent pattern for [the] last one year wherein military and intelligence agencies’ officials are targeted with insinuations and sensational propaganda for the furtherance of political objectives,” the army said.
The political turmoil comes at a time of deepening financial distress for Pakistan, whose economy has slowed sharply after its central bank hiked interest rates to record levels.
The country’s $6.5bn programme with the IMF has been stalled since November, and is set to expire in June. Foreign exchange reserves have dwindled to $4.457bn, barely enough to cover a month’s worth of imports.
