Pakistan court sends ex-Premier Khan to 8 days of police custody, death toll rises amid protests

ISLAMABAD (AA) — A Pakistani anti-graft court sent former Prime Minister Imran Khan to police custody for eight days in a corruption case, a court record showed on Wednesday.

The court, which was temporarily relocated to a police guest house in the capital Islamabad, remanded Khan to the country’s anti-corruption agency, the National Accountability Bureau.

This comes after the federal government deployed the army in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces due to ongoing demonstrations against Khan’s arrest.

The federal Interior Ministry approved the provincial caretaker governments’ requests for troops to maintain law and order.

The decision came after police held scores of opposition activists in an overnight crackdown across the South Asian country following outrage and widespread protests over Khan’s arrest on corruption charges on Tuesday.

Contingents of police and paramilitary forces in riot gear were also deployed around the court, with all roads leading to the site sealed.

At least three more people died in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, health officials confirmed on Wednesday, taking the death toll up to six since the demonstrations began a day earlier.

Police officials added that over 1,200 protestors were taken into custody during the demonstrations that continue in many parts of the South Asian nation.

Khan’s lawyers boycotted the hearing after the sitting judge refused to postpone his indictment in the trial, popularly known as “Toshakhana case.”

Khan pleaded not guilty in the trial.

Since his arrest on Tuesday, at least three people were killed and dozens wounded in clashes between the protesting workers belonging to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and police, according to officials.

The detainees included PTI Secretary General Asad Umar, former Governor Umar Sarfraz Cheema of the northeastern Punjab province, several lawmakers, and second-tier party leaders.

Protesters also stormed the building of Radio Pakistan in the northwestern city of Peshawar and ransacked its newsroom and various other sections.

The head of the state-run broadcaster Tahir Hassan told reporters that hundreds had stormed the building after breaking open the main entrance.

They set records and equipment on fire, he said, adding that this was the second attack on Radio Pakistan since Tuesday.