Imran Khan Arrested and Sent to Custody in Corruption Cases
Imran Khan Arrested and Sent to Custody in Corruption Cases
Like most other politicians, Imran Khan claims that the corruption charges against him are politically motivated. However, he has not yet furnished any evidence in his defence.
By Rakesh Raman
Former prime minister (PM) of Pakistan Imran Khan has been sent to custody for 8 days today (May 10) in corruption cases that he has been facing.
Pakistan’s top anti-corruption authority the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had asked an Islamabad court for a custody of 10 days for questioning him in corruption cases.
Imran Khan, 70, is facing corruption charges leveled by the Pakistan election commission for selling foreign gifts that he received when he was the PM of Pakistan. He was supposed to hand over the gifts to the government Toshakhana.
According to reports, the court sent Imran Khan to NAB custody in the Al-Qadir University Trust case, a day after his arrest in Islamabad on May 9, while he was indicted in the Toshakhana case.
The leader of the main opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Imran Khan has been arrested for alleged corruption in the Trust case. Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency has filed charges against him in an anti-corruption court, which had issued the arrest warrant as Imran Khan failed to appear in the court.
Like most other politicians, he claims that the corruption charges against him are politically motivated. However, he has not yet furnished any evidence in his defence.
Editor’s Note: Although the PM of India Narendra Modi is also allegedly involved in a number of corruption cases, the Indian courts and anti-corruption agencies are so weak and also complicit in crimes that they do not question or arrest Modi.
The corruption cases – worth billions of dollars or thousands of crores of rupees – in which Modi is allegedly involved include the Modi-Adani collusion case, Rafale corruption case, and PM-CARES Fund case.
Imran Khan was arrested yesterday (May 9) deceptively by the paramilitary forces when he was entering the Islamabad High Court for hearing in a case. He was dragged and pushed into a vehicle.
Imran Khan was anticipating the arrest as he tweeted a video message before his departure for the court in which he said that he is ready to get imprisoned if there is a valid case against him.
He added that there have been repeated assassination attempts to eliminate him because he is mobilizing people in support of the Constitution. He warned that civil unrest – like it happened in Sri Lanka – is imminent in Pakistan.
Earlier, he had said that he may be killed after incarceration by the authorities which are trying to arrest him in the corruption case. In a video message released in March, Imran Khan said that police have come to arrest him and if he is killed his supporters should keep fighting for their rights.
His supporters pelted stones on Pakistan police which had come to arrest him from his Lahore home in March. In response, the police used water cannons to drive away the crowd.
After a series of public protests led by opposition parties against Imran Khan’s failure to revive the economy in Pakistan, he was removed from the PM position in April 2022.
In May last year (2022), Imran Khan led a massive protest to demand early elections in Pakistan.
According to a tweeted message by his party PTI, Imran Khan will be produced in the court on May 17.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of the humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
