Pakistani Police Leader Of Political Parties Former PM Imran Khan

JAKARTA - Pakistani police arrested two aides to former prime minister Imran Khan in a raid on his party secretariat.

The police group closed the secretariat in Islamabad and detained party leader Gohar Khan and secretary Rauf Hasan, party spokesman Zulfikar Bukhari told Reuters on Monday, July 22.

Pakistan's Tereek-e-Insaf (PTI) party he led later said its acting chairman had been released shortly after his detention.

However, Pakistan's Interior Ministry identified the aides detained as Hasan and Ahmad Waqas Janjua, the party's coordinator for international media coverage. The ministry did not mention Gohar Khan in his statement.

The ministry said the two detained men were being investigated but did not say whether they had been charged.

PTI said that on weekends Janjua was picked up by the police from his home in Islamabad.

The ministry also said the secretariat's digital media wing had been raided by police and the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA).

"PTI is involved in anti-state propaganda," the ministry said in a statement.

The party denies the allegations.

Former prime minister Khan has been jailed for about a year, although the four sentences imposed on him ahead of parliamentary elections in February have been suspended or canceled.

After being released from the last four sentences, authorities re-arrested Khan and his wife in a long-standing corruption case on charges of illegally selling state gifts. He also faces charges of inciting his supporters to attack military installations last year.

Khan denies all charges against him.

His party got the highest number of seats in parliament in the February elections although the party that supported Khan said the military-backed crackdown was aimed at keeping it out of power.

The party also won nearly two dozen additional parliamentary seats in court decisions last week.

Khan blamed his dismissal in 2022 as a result of no confidence in Pakistan's ruling military generals after he clashed with them. This allegation was denied by the military.