PTI leader and Imran Khans chief of staff, Shehbaz Gill, has been arrested on sedition charges, media reports said. Imran Khan has called an emergency meeting of the party over the arrest. Gill’s arrest was first reported by PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry and Murad Saeed on Twitter, Samaa TV reported.
“Shahbaz Glll has been abducted from Bani Gala Chowk by people who came in vehicles without number plates,” Chaudhry said in a tweet. Bani Gala Chowk is located around one kilometre from Imran Khan’s Bangi Gala residence. Another PTI leader Murad Saeed also reported his arrest and said that the glass windows of his car were broken. He also claimed that an assistant of Gill was beaten up.
A video shared by PTI’s official Twitter handle showed broken glass. There was no official word on the ‘arrest’ of Gill. However, police sources said that Gill has been detained in connection with an FIR registered against him, Samaa TV reported. He faces sedition charges and has been accused of incitement in connection with a troll campaign against institutions, the sources said. Gill has been moved to an undisclosed location. A joint investigation team is probing a troll campaign that was launched immediately after a Pakistan Army helicopter crashed in Balochistan’s Lasbela district. Murad Saeed, in his tweets, said that a “horrible plan” had been hatched yesterday (Monday) night. Saeed did not elaborate on the alleged plan he was referring to. However, Sheikh Rasheed, a close ally of Imran Khan, also spoke about Khan’s possible arrest and disqualification.