CM Afridi leads second day of Lahore street movement amid heavy police deployment

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said preparations for the September 27 long march seeking the release of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder Imran Khan were complete as he led the second day of his Lahore street movement on Tuesday amid a heavy deployment of Punjab Police.

Addressing the media and rally participants, CM Afridi said the party would disclose its detailed plan for the protest a week before the event and called on people to come out for their rights.

He claimed that even a force of 100,000 police or military personnel could not stop what he described as the mobilisation of four million people.

Read: CM Afridi accuses Punjab govt of political victimisation and manhandling at worker's residence in Lahore

Afridi took to the streets from Shah Jamal after visiting the family of Ghulam Mohiuddin Dewan, a former member of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly who is currently under arrest.

The rally, accompanied by a large number of party workers and supporters, travelled along Ferozepur Road, Mozang Chungi, Lytton Road and Jain Mandir before reaching Hall Road.

A heavy police deployment was witnessed along the route of the K-P chief minister's rally. According to PTI, police forcibly closed shops and markets along the route and blocked roads and streets on both sides, restricting the movement of PTI workers, supporters and members of the public.

The party also claimed that several PTI workers were arrested and that police conducted raids at the residences of party workers and leaders.

It also alleged that police confined shopkeepers and citizens inside plazas at various locations to prevent them from joining the rally while claiming that police officials in uniform and plain clothes attempted to arrest workers at several points; however, members of the K-P chief minister's official squad intervened and secured their release.

Speaking to the media during the rally, CM Afridi alleged that he had been abducted by Punjab Police the previous night and accused the provincial government of creating hurdles for his political activities.

"I was being abducted," Afridi said, adding that he had been taken around Lahore's roads for about 15 minutes before being left on the roadside.

He said the Punjab government should be ashamed and warned that if anything happened to him in Punjab, the provincial government and Punjab Police would be responsible.

Earlier, K-P Information Minister Shafi Ullah Jan alleged that Afridi could not have reached the location without being detained or stopped by police.

"If the police did not arrest him, then how did Sohail Afridi get here?" Jan said, alleging that an attempt had been made to abduct the K-P chief minister.

He further alleged that pressure was put on PTI workers who followed Afridi and that the chief minister was forced out of his vehicle after police saw party workers around the convoy.

According to the PTI, Lahore chapter Vice President Mehr Naeemullah Taj was also arrested. The party also claimed that police raided the residence of senior PTI leader Lala Ishtiaq, who was not present at the house at the time, according to his family.

In a video message earlier, Afridi criticised the media for what he described as a failure to raise its voice over the death of PTI activist Ishtiaq Ahmad. He repeated the party's allegation that Ahmad had been thrown into boiling oil during a police raid linked to Eid Milad-un-Nabi preparations.

Afridi also warned the Punjab government and police against creating hurdles to the movement, saying that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was discussing its response and that a "very strong reaction" would follow if PTI workers faced the same treatment as the previous night.

Speaking to workers, senior founding PTI leader Al-Haj Shaid Hussain praised Afridi's "courage and bravery" and claimed that Lahore residents had broken barriers to welcome the K-P chief minister.

He accused the PML-N and PPP of practising "hate politics" and said the two parties had failed to address the problems of the people and the country.

The street movement is being presented by PTI as part of its mobilisation ahead of the Sept 27 protest. Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Moeen-ud-Din Qureshi, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, K-P Information Minister Shafiullah Jan, Shaukat Basra and others accompanied Afridi during the Lahore campaign.