Pakistani police besiege Imran Khan's home as deadline for him to hand over suspects expires
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Pakistani police kept up their siege around the home of Imran Khan as a 24-hour deadline given to the former premier to hand over suspects allegedly sheltered inside expired on Thursday.
Pakistani police kept up their siege around the home of Imran Khan as a 24-hour deadline given to the former premier to hand over suspects allegedly sheltered inside expired on Thursday.
The siege and the authorities' demand for the suspects, wanted in violent protests over Khan's recent detention, have angered the former prime minister's many followers and raised fears of renewed clashes between them and security forces.
Last week, Khan's supporters attacked public property and military installations after he was dragged out of a courtroom and arrested in a graft case. At least 10 people were killed in clashes with police across the country in the days that followed. The violence subsided only when Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered Khan's release.
The popular opposition leader was freed from custody over the weekend and returned to his home in an upscale district of Lahore, Pakistan's second largest city and the capital of the Punjab region. Dozens of his supporters have been staying there with him, along with private guards. Police surrounded the residence on Wednesday, saying they want 40 suspects handed over.
The ultimatum for Khan ended at 2 p.m. local time, but there were no immediate signs of unusual movement by police. Khan's party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, invited reporters to the house to witness any police raid.
Typically between 200 to 300 of Khan's supporters, holding sticks, guard his residence around the clock, but most disappeared overnight. Police have barricaded a key road leading to the house and asked residents to use an alternate route.
"Probably my last tweet before my next arrest," the 70-year-old popular opposition leader tweeted Wednesday, after the siege started. "Police have surrounded my house."
