Police in the wee hours of Wednesday used water cannons to break up the sit-in being staged by incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan’s sisters and party workers near Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, to protest denial of a meeting with the former prime minister, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Police dispersed the crowd, who also pelted stones on them, from outside the Adiala Jail and removed all obstacles from the road to open it for general traffic.
PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khkan and Imran Khan’s sisters arrived outside Adiala Jail on Tuesday, seeking a meeting with their brother but were not allowed to go near the prison.
Authorities blocked them from moving ahead, which led to a a sit-in that lasted into the early hours of December 10 (Wednesday).
Around 2:00 am, police personnel used water cannons to break up the gathering, drenching protesters including women and elderly participants, with PTI reporting injuries to some and condemning the action as brutal against unarmed people in the cold.
Normal traffic resumed after the police operation ended the PTI sit-in at the Factory Naka (Factory Checkpoint) area near Adiala Jail.
During the police operation, the police took several workers into their custody.
Earlier, Aleema Khan accused authorities of denying the PTI founder family visits for an extended period, terming it “mental torture”. She said the family had been attempting to secure a meeting for over a month and insisted that their last meeting had involved no political discussion—only concerns about officials’ behaviour.
Questioning why her brother was being treated as a national security threat, she demanded clarity regarding his alleged solitary confinement and on whose order it was being enforced.
