Imran Khan’s party workers arrested from across Pakistan, prevented from demonstrations in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Except in the Pakistani capital, party leaders and supporters of Imran Khan held demonstrations across the country where hundreds of workers were arrested on Friday while protesting the inflated electricity bills and demanding the former prime minister’s release from jail.

After the government banned protests in Islamabad, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) approached the Islamabad High Court, urging it to order the administration to allow it to hold protests. The court, after hearing arguments, reserved its judgment.

The main opposition party, PTI, could not hold its much-publicised protest in the national capital after the government banned public gatherings. However, its ally, the rightwing Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), went ahead with its protest rally by defying the ban and claimed that police arrested several workers.