Tsunami Of Supporters Storm Pakistan Adiala Jail Demanding Former PM Imran Khan's Release

Tensions unfolded outside Pakistan's Adiala jail where thousands of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan supporters and members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were heading towards Adiala Jail to seek information about their leader’s condition. Due to mounting public pressure, the military government has deployed hundreds of additional personnel to strengthen the prison’s security. 

Earlier, Imran Khan's sisters Aleema Khan, Dr Uzma, and Noreen Niazi– along with party leaders Salman Akram Raja, leader of the opposition alliance Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Aain-e-Pakistan (TTAP) Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, PTI MNA Shahid Khattak, provincial minister Meena Khan, and hundreds of party workers, staged the sit-in near the factory checkpoint. The protest began after they were denied the permission to meet Khan on the scheduled visitation day. People in large numbers joined the protest and condemned the government and chanted slogans demanding jailed leader's release. 

Meanwhile, in a bid to prevent Imran Khan’s sisters and their supporters from moving towards the main gate of Adiala Jail, a heavy contingent of police was deployed to keep the crowd in check.

Aleema Khan condemned the treatment

Reportedly, when the Khan sisters staged a 10-hour sit-in outside the prison after being denied a meeting with Khan, the police allegedly dragged, manhandled them and took them into custody. She also condemned the treatment meted out to them by female police personnel in a previous incident, describing their behaviour as “shameless.” Reportedly, when Imran's sister reached the jail for the scheduled meeting, they were asked to wait for hours following which they staged a sit-in protest outside the prison before being detained by the police. As per a news agency, Imran's sister Noreen was dragged by her hair across the road and pushed to the ground and his other two sisters were also manhandled during the chaos.

After being released from detention, Noreen added, "She held my arm, dragged me by my legs. It is tragic that they can stoop to this level. Punjab police is behaving like savage."

Letter To Punjab Police

Following the manhandling, Khan’s sisters in a letter to Punjab police chief Usman Anwar said the violence was “brutal and orchestrated and carried out by policemen without provocation.”Khan’s sisters demanded that the IGP Punjab immediately initiate proceedings against all police personnel involved in this brutal assault. 

Imran Khan, the patron-in-chief of PTI, has been in jail since August 2023 in multiple cases. Even Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was not allowed to meet Khan. Afridi made seven consecutive attempts to see him in jail, but he was denied by the jail authorities, whom Khan claims were controlled by an army officer.

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