Punjab govt on its mark as PTI launches 'Jail Bharo' drive

• PTI's Jail Bharo Tehreek starts in Lahore today.
• Court Arrest Drive will be launched in phases.
• In first phase, senior leaders will surrender themselves. 

Punjab's caretaker government has braced itself with a cut-and-dried strategy as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is all set to launch Jail Bharo Tehreek (Court Arrest Drive) as part of its efforts to win a date from the federal government for general elections. 

PTI's phased movement will get off the ground in Lahore. In the first phase, the party’s senior leaders, including PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi and PTI Secretary General Asad Umar will voluntarily surrender themselves to the authorities, according to the party's senior vice-president Fawad Chaudhry, who talked to the media on Tuesday.

The provincial government has decided that the criminal history, tax and bank records of people arrested under the PTI's Court Arrest Drive will be thoroughly scrutinized. If anyone is found involved in corruption or criminal cases, immediate action will be triggered against them, said the sources.

Sources privy to the Punjab government say that all the law-enforcement agencies have been mobilised in the run-up to the PTI's movement.

The jails in the provincial capital are brimming to capacity with no room for more prisoners, according to sources. Hence, the arrested individuals will have to be sent to jails in other cities like Mianwali and DG Khan jails, said the sources.

In a meeting chaired by the Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, a decision has been made that women and poor workers would not be detained during the PTI movement.

Deputy Minister of Information Marriyum Aurangzeb said this is the world's first Court Arrest Movement, which is being initiated with the leader seeking protective bail. 

PTI Chairman Imran Khan on February 4 announced "Jail Bharo Tehreek" in the wake of sedition cases filed against his party leaders including Fawad Chaudhry, Azam Swati and Shahbaz Gill.