Rawalpindi police take Imran Khan’s sisters into custody after 10-hour sit-in outside Adiala Jail
Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan speaks to media outside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. Photo: AFP/ File
Rawalpindi police took the sisters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan into custody on Tuesday, ending a 10-hour-long sit-in outside Adiala Jail. The three sisters, Aleema, Dr Uzma, and Noreen were transferred to Chakri and are expected to return home with their cousin Qasim Zaman.
The sit-in had been staged near the Factory Checkpoint after the PTI founder and his family members, along with party leaders, were denied permission to meet at Adiala Jail on the day of a scheduled visit.
Police engaged in multiple negotiations with the protesters, but Aleema refused to end the sit-in, insisting that a meeting be scheduled for the following Tuesday.
Police violently detained Imran Khan's sisters, Aleema Khan, Noreen Niazi, and Dr Uzma Khan from where they were sitting peacefully outside Adiala Jail after yet again being denied their weekly visit with their brother.
KP provincial minister Meena Khan Afridi, MNA Shahid… pic.twitter.com/RsbthC0T53Around midnight, authorities first dispersed male party workers involved in the protest. Subsequently, the women’s police unit took the sisters into custody, placed them in a police van, and transferred them toward Chakri. Following the action, the 10-hour-long sit-in was brought to an end, and remaining workers dispersed peacefully.
In a statement on social media platform X, PTI claimed that police violently detained Imran Khan’s sisters while they were sitting peacefully outside Adiala Jail.
The statement also alleged that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial minister Meena Khan Afridi, MNA Shahid Khattak, and other party office holders and workers, including several women, were subjected to violence and taken into custody.
Leader of the opposition alliance Tehreek Tahaffuz-e-Ain-e-Pakistan (TTAP), Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, strongly condemned the alleged police action against Khan’s sisters and other women.
Abbas questioned the moral and religious justification of the incident, saying it “violates all principles of humanity, faith and ethics.” He said the treatment of the women was unacceptable and reflected “a grave misuse of state power.”
The TTAP leader accused the Punjab Police of acting on the directives of the provincial government, terming the alleged violence “a slap on the face of humanity.” He further linked the incident to what he described as “a dangerous and oppressive mindset.”
There was no immediate response from the Punjab government or police regarding the allegations.