Interior minister says miscreants involved in damaging public properties will be identified through CCTV footages
\nIslamabad
\nInterior Minister Rana Sanaullah said Saturday there is no other option but to impose a ban on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) following three-day-long violent protests that erupted following the arrest of party chief Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
\nHis statement came a day after the PTI chief was granted a blanket relief by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) as the authorities were barred from arresting him in any case till May 15 (Monday).
\n\u201cIt\u2019s important to have a stance against armed groups. There is no other option but to impose a ban on this party [PTI],\u201d the interior minister said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.
\nHe said the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)-led coalition government would be compelled to take extreme measures to outlaw the opposition party \u201cif it did not change its attitude\u201d.
\nSanaullah said the PTI chief\u2019s only objective is to spread chaos and anarchy in the country.
\nHe also held the Khan-led party\u2019s workers and supporters responsible for damaging public properties and storming military installations across the country during the countrywide violent protests.
\n\u201cThe government will bring these \u2018gangs\u2019 to the book. They [miscreants] will be identified through CCTV footage cameras and rounded up one by one,\u201d he added.
\nHe also took a jibe at the courts for granting relief to the PTI chief saying the situation would have been brought under control if Khan was not granted relief.
\nThe Interior minister\u2019s presser came hours after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the Punjab government to move swiftly and arrest the vandals within 72 hours as he visited the Corps Commander House in Lahore that was ransacked by the PTI protesters.
\n\u201cI have given law enforcement apparatus a target of 72 hours to arrest all those involved in facilitating, abetting and perpetrating the disgraceful incidents of arson, ransacking, sabotage & damaging public & private properties,\u201d the PM said after chairing a meeting at the Punjab Safe City Authority Headquarters in Lahore.
\nAt least 10 people were killed and dozens of others sustained injuries during the two-day protests with internet services also remaining suspended for over 72 hours across the country.
\nAfter the supporters attacked army installations, the army said that May 9, 2023 \u2014 the day when chaos gripped the nation following Khan\u2019s arrest \u2014 would go down in history as a \u201cdark chapter\u201d.
\nThe army called the PTI leaders \u201chypocrites\u201d for inciting their workers against the armed forces on the one hand, and praising the military \u2014 in a bid to overshadow their criticism \u2014 on the other.
\nKhan has criticised the military in the past and following his arrest, his supporters raised the stakes by attacking military targets \u2014 torching the residence of the corps commander in Lahore and attacking the entrance to the army\u2019s headquarters in Rawalpindi.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Interior minister says miscreants involved in damaging public properties will be identified through CCTV footages Islamabad Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said Saturday there is no other option but to impose a ban on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) following three-day-long violent protests that erupted following the arrest of party chief Imran Khan in the Al-Qadir Trust […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330983,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-330976","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n