Imran as he fears raid at Zaman Park,

Punjab caretaker govt rejects Imran Khan’s claim ,

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan said Wednesday that police have surrounded his Zaman Park residence in Lahore — where he is currently residing — and expressed fears that he could be taken into custody.

Khan on Wednesday invited all stakeholders to sit and talk while there was still time as he fears another arrest during a raid at his residence in Lahore’s Zaman Park.

“Probably my last tweet before my next arrest. Police has surrounded my house,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle while sharing live link to his address to party supporters on YouTube.

Khan was arrested on May 9 — the day when the country witnessed deadly protests — in the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case, but a court later granted him bail.

Later, addressing his party workers, the deposed prime minister — who was removed from office in April last year — that if the police come with a search warrant to carry out an operation at his Zaman Park residence, he would not put up resistance against them.

“I have just heard that 40 terrorists are hiding at my residence. Please do come here [but] in a civilised manner and don’t attempt to storm my residence,” he said while addressing his supporters.

“If 40 terrorists are present at my house, then my life is also in danger. Please carry out a search operation but tell me the names of terrorists and we will show you our entire house.”

He also warned against using the search operation against terrorists as a pretext to attack his house saying “don’t fan this fire any further”.

The former prime minister said that whatever happened on May 9 was part of a plan. “IG Punjab should be called for what happened at Jinnah House. From Liberty Chowk [in Lahore] people were moving to Jinnah House but no one stopped them. In a fair investigation, all will be revealed.”

He said that they wanted to attack Jinnah House as an excuse to ban PTI and put leaders behind bars.

“How did Radio Pakistan get burned? The protest was happening someplace else but Radio Pakistan gets burned down. It is easy to identify faces these days with facial recognition. You can use NADRA’s data and identify people but that can only happen through an independent investigation.

Imran claimed to have defended the army worldwide, emphasising that criticising the army is akin to criticising his own children.

He said that Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) was over the moon due to the current situation as they think it will cause delay in elections. “PDM is doing what was done in East Pakistan,” he claimed.

“They reached my residence on March 14. They attacked my house for 24 hours. Did I say attack?” Khan stated. “APC [armoured personnel carrier] smashed gate of my house where my wife was alone. Did I say anything?” he continued, highlighting the dangers his family faced during the raid.

Refuting any claims of instigating violence, Khan stated, “When they tried to assassinate me, did I order anyone to attack them? They arrested me as if I was a terrorist.”

Meanwhile.

Caretaker Punjab Miniter for Information Amir Mir Wednesday night rejected Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s claim that Punjab police has decided to arrest him.

According to the 24News HD TV channel, the information minister Punjab said in a tweet after Imran Khan’s message on his Twitter account that it could be his last tweet as police surrounded Zaman Park to arrest him.

In response to it, Amir Mir said in his tweet, “Punjab government spokesperson has strongly rejected Imran Khan’s claim that Punjab Police has decided to arrest him.

The spokesperson said that no such decision has been taken and the PTI chairman has been making such false claims as usual to provoke the people,

Meanwhile, the police have blocked traffic coming from Mall Road to Zaman Park. Heavy police force is deployed near Zaman Park, Dharmpura Bridge, Allama Iqbal Road, Mall Road, and Garhi Shahu Canal Road areas of the city.

Policemen wearing bulletproof jackets armed with batons are present with their mobile vans. An unusual rush of traffic on Dharmapura Bridge is witnessed as policemen are standing alert on the roadside.

The police are searching big vehicles coming from Canal Road to Mall Road and Zaman Park.

According to sources, vehicles displaying PTI flags are being stopped and party workers present inside are being detained. A few vehicles were not allowed to go towards Zaman Park due to party flags.