PTI lawyer captured hitting motorcyclist travelling with children

PTI lawyers protested against the arrest of party workers by taking to the streets of Lahore

LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawyers on Friday protested against the arrest of party workers ahead of Islamabad's November 2 lockdown by taking to the streets of Lahore.

The lawyers blocked Mall Road and burnt tyres obstructing the flow of traffic. A video showed PTI lawyer Advocate Shahid Naseem Gondal slapping a man travelling with two children on a motorcycle on Lahore's Mall Road.



Gondal is a PTI ticket holder in Mandi Bahauddin. No action was taken against the advocate till the filing of this report. According to initial reports, the lawyers also harassed other motorists who did not adhere to their instructions to take a different route.



PTI leader Imran Khan called for nationwide protests on Friday after dozens of activists from his party were arrested, adding to political deadlock ahead of his plans to shut down the capital next week.

Imran, a former cricket hero, plans to stage major protests to paralyse the capital on Wednesday in what he described as a final push to force Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign over corruption allegations.



The rising tensions come at an awkward time for PM Nawaz, with relations between his ruling PML-N party and Pakistan’s powerful military strained over a newspaper leak about a security meeting that angered army officials.

Police on Thursday swooped on an indoor youth rally by Imran’s party in Islamabad, beating activists with batons and detaining 38 people.

Police said the rally contravened a city order issued hours earlier to ban all public gatherings in the capital ahead of next week’s protests.

“Police manhandled our women and our boys. Because of that, Imran Khan has called for nationwide protests,” a spokesperson from PTI’s media team said.