Hand over ’30 to 40 terrorists’ hiding in your house by Thursday noon: Govt’s ultimatum to Imran Khan

The interim government in Pakistan’s Punjab province has demanded that former prime minister Imran Khan hand over “30 to 40 terrorists.

Who have taken refuge” at his residence in Zaman Park in Lahore. Imran Khan hit back and asked officials to come with a search warrant and not use it as an excuse to storm his house.

Caretaker chief minister Mohsin Raza Naqvi issued an ultimatum to Imran Khan to hand over the “30 to 40 terrorists” by 2 pm on Thursday. The Punjab Police has again blocked road access to Zaman Park from all sides.

According to government sources, the arrest of the “terrorists” is expected to be done after 2 pm. They alleged that Imran Khan might not appear before a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) court on Thursday in connection with the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief was directed by the NAB through a summons to appear before the court in Islamabad.

Earlier, Punjab’s caretaker information minister Amir Mir had claimed that some “30 to 40 terrorists” were hiding at Imran Khan’s Lahore residence and gave him an ultimatum of 24 hours to hand them over or face stern action.

“We have received an intelligence report that some 30 to 40 terrorists who were involved in attacking the military installations, especially Lahore Corps Commander House on May 9, are hiding at the Zaman Park residence of Imran Khan. We give an ultimatum of 24 hours to Imran Khan and his party to hand them over to police or face stern action,” Amir Mir said at a press conference.

Responding to the minister’s claim, Imran Khan, in his address, asked him to come with a search warrant.

“You say that terrorists are hiding in my house and they want to storm my house using it as an excuse. You should bring a warrant and search in a decent way,” he said.

The arrest of Imran Khan on May 9 by the paramilitary Rangers at the Islamabad High Court premises triggered violent protests by his supporters across Pakistan. For the first time in the country’s history, protesters stormed the Army headquarters in Rawalpindi and also torched the Corps Commander’s house in Lahore.

US SENATORS EXPRESS CONCERN OVER PAKISTAN UNREST
Over 65 bipartisan senators of the US Congress wrote a letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, urging him to prioritise the promotion and protection of democracy and human rights in Pakistan amid the ongoing unrest and arrests in the aftermath of Imran Khan’s arrest in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case.

“Over the past several months, we have become increasingly concerned by the blanket bans on demonstrations and deaths of several prominent critics of the government. We ask for your help pressuring the Government of Pakistan to ensure protestors can assert their demands in a peaceful and non-violent way,” the letter read.