Imran Khan's 3 Sisters Arrested In Pakistan Before PTI's Mega Protest

Authorities in Pakistan have arrested former prime minister Imran Khan's three sisters, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has alleged. Aleema Khan, Dr Uzma Khan, and Noreen Khan, who have been calling for Khan's release, have been sent to Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore, the party said.

"Punjab police have raided Aleem Khan's home and have abducted Imran Khan's other two sisters, his nephews, and their children," PTI spokesperson Zulfi Bukhari said on his social media platform X.

PTI's information secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram told AFP that 73-year-old Khan's sisters and their children were taken into custody, but the children were released.

"All three sisters have been sent to Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore," he added.

The law enforcement agencies arrested Khan's sisters in Lahore, the capital city of Punjab province. While Aleena Khan was taken into custody on Sunday, Dr Uzma Khan and Noreen Khan were arrested on Monday. 

The arrests came after Lahore's deputy commissioner Muhammad Ali Ijaz passed two separate orders for the three sisters' 30-day detention under the Maintenance of Public Order law of Punjab province.

The Protest Call

So far, Pakistani authorities have not released any statement on the matter, but arrests followed PTI's call for a mega protest on September 27, seeking his release from jail.

Pakistan's Information Minister Attaullah Tarar has termed PTI's protest call illegal. He said, "We will not allow them to block roads and disrupt people's lives."

The cricketer-turned-politician has been in jail since 2023 and was sentenced late last year, along with his wife, to 17 years in jail on corruption charges they both deny.

Khan, who was also a former Pakistan cricket captain, was prime minister from 2018 to 2022 before being removed in a no-confidence vote during a political crisis over tensions between his government and Pakistan's powerful military establishment.