RAWALPINDI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Thursday reached a police picket, established near Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, in yet another attempt to meet the incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan.
CM Afridi’s visit comes a day after an Islamabad court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for him in a case wherein he had been accused of making misleading statements against state institutions.
Speaking to reporters at the Factory Naka near the prison, the KP chief minister said he had “serious reservations” about the former premier’s health.
CM Afridi’s visit comes after the PTI on Tuesday raised concerns about Imran’s health, saying he was ailing from a serious eye issue.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Thursday confirmed that the PTI founder underwent a medical procedure for an eye ailment at a hospital in Islamabad on Saturday night.
Referring to Tarar’s statement, Afridi insisted the government was previously denying that Imran had been taken to a hospital and said the PTI would “respond strongly”.
The chief minister further said his party did not “trust even a single statement” made by Tarar.
Imran’s sisters, PTI workers, and leaders say they are being denied meetings with the former premier despite orders from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to implement its verdict that reinstated a twice-a-week meeting schedule.
Hence, Imran’s sisters Aleema Khan, Uzma Khanum and Noreen Khan Niazi, along with party workers and supporters, have been staging sit-ins a short distance away from the prison on Tuesdays and Thursdays — the days mandated by the IHC for twice-a-week meetings with Imran.
The Rawalpindi police had made strict security arrangements ahead of Afridi’s expected arrival on Thursday, with personnel at the prison and in the adjoining areas on high alert.
Police pickets were also established near the prison’s gate, at Shaigan Healthcare factory, and in Dahgal and Gorakhpur areas, while female cops were also deployed on pickets on Adiala Road.
Police checkpoints were also set up on the toll plazas of the M1 (Islamabad–Peshawar) and M2 (Lahore-Islamabad) motorways.
Other places where police personnel were deployed included Committee Chowk, Liaquat Bagh, GPO Chowk, Chungi No. 22, Khawaja Corporation Chowk, Gulshanabad Chowk, Thalian and Chakri Interchange.
As per meetings reported by the media, Uzma was last allowed to see her brother on December 2.
On January 21, the PTI moved the IHC seeking permission to meet Imran and his wife Bushra Bibi in prison, as well as an order by the court to end their unlawful solitary confinement.
