PTI leaders booked for attacks on GHQ, Lahore Corps Commander's residence

• Hammad Azhar booked in cases registered in Lahore.
• Cases have been registered on the complaint of police officials.
• Rioting took place following Imran Khan's arrest in a corruption case.

RAWALPINDI/LAHORE: Following the attack on the General Headquarters (GHQ) and ransacking of the Lahore Corps Commander’s home, authorities have registered cases against senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders.

In Rawalpindi, the first information report was registered under 10 criminal sections including 7 ATA, 353/341/440/441 PPC with the RA Bazaar police station.

In the FIR a police team deployed near Gate No 1 of the GHQ informed that an aggressive mob of 250 to 300 people, led by PTI leader Raja Basharat, attacked the gate by shouting slogans against the army and tried to enter the building, but they were intercepted by the people deployed at the gate.

According to The News, a police party led by a senior superintendent of police is conducting raids to hunt down the former law minister of Punjab and about 200 participants that participated in the attack on the GHQ.

In Lahore, multiple PTI leaders were booked in FIRs registered at the provincial capital’s Race Course and Sarwar Road Police Stations for the violence that took place in the city after Imran Khan’s arrest.

In the case registered at Race Course Police Station, Azhar and 80 others were booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) on the complaint of Station House Officer Aftab Nawaz.

The FIR states that a mob under Azhar’s leadership attacked the area surrounding Club Chowk. They have also been accused of hurling abuses against the army, judiciary and sensitive institutions.

On the protests in Lahore’s Cantt area, a separate FIR was registered in the Sarwar Road Police Station on the complaint of Deputy Superintendent (DSP) Rana Ashfaq.

The case includes murder, attempt to murder and 20 other sections of the Pakistan Penal Code.

In this case, Khan and other PTI leaders have been named. It states that PTI leaders Mian Aslam Iqbal and Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed led the mob during the protests on the orders of the PTI chief, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Farrukh Habib.

The FIR also states that Azhar, Musarrat Cheema, and Jamshed Iqbal Cheema also encouraged the ransacking. Apart from them, Zubair Niazi, Asad Zaman, Murad Saeed and Ali Amin Gandapur have also been named in the case.

On Tuesday, protests erupted across Pakistan after Khan was arrested as he appeared before the Islamabad High Court for several cases pending since he was ousted last year.

Police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse Khan supporters in Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad, while protesters blocked roads in the capital Islamabad, Peshawar, and other cities.

The workers also damaged public property and set police vehicles on fire in Charsadda, Karachi, Lahore, and several other cities after the party called on supporters to "shut down Pakistan" over his arrest.