Top leaders of Imran Khan's party arrested in Pakistan after being accused of inciting violence

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani police arrested Monday several top leaders from former imprisoned Prime Minister Imran Khan's opposition party, a day after some people clashed with the police a mile from a protest calling for his release.

Among the detainees, accused of inciting violence, was the president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, Gohar Khan, who is not related to the former premier. Videos circulating online showed police taking the party head out of his vehicle before whisking him away to a police station. The PTI said in a statement other top party officials were arrested in multiple ongoing raids but didn't disclose how many were detained.

There was no immediate comment from police.

Tens of thousands of supporters of the ex-prime minister, who was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022 and whose arrest caused widespread violence, took to the streets Sunday demanding his release. The mostly peaceful event witnessed violence after some clashed with the police on a highway, a mile from the town of Sanjrani, on the outskirts of the capital, Islamabad, where the protest took place.

The police said several officers were injured.

At Sanjrani, PTI party leaders addressed the protesters in fiery speeches, threatening to forcefully free Khan from prison if he is not released in the next two weeks. Authorities said charges will be brought against Ali Amin, the top elected official in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, for the two-week ultimatum and inciting people to violence.

His spokesman told a local news channel they had lost contact with him. It remained unclear if he was arrested or went into hiding.

Khan faces a slew of legal cases and has been in prison for nearly a year after being sentenced in a graft case. He is the main rival of current Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and remains a popular figure despite these cases, which critics and his party say are politically motivated.

Zulfi Bukhari, Khan’s spokesman, denounced the arrests of the party's top leaders and supporters. He called the arrests “a knee-jerk reaction" to the "huge numbers" of people who joined the protest that day before. He also said the party leaders were arrested because they “took a firm stance,” demanding the popular politician's release.

PTI in a statement on the social media platform X on Monday said Khan has thanked his supporters for peacefully holding the rally in Islamabad. It quoted Khan as saying: “‎You have all broken the shackles of fear to stand up & fight.”