Khawaja Asif clarifies 'govt not planning to arrest Imran Khan'

ISLAMABAD: Defence Minister and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) central leader Khawaja Asif has categorically rejected the rumours regarding the government’s plan to arrest Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

While talking to a private news channel, Khawaja Asif clarified the rumoured plan of the federal government to arrest the PTI chief and former premier Imran Khan. He criticised Khan is trying to pressurise the judiciary and the national institutions through his moves.

Asif alleged Khan came out of anonymity and reached the prime ministership and now he is maligning the person who helped him to rule the country.

READ: IMRAN KHAN ACCUSES INTERIM CM PUNJAB OF “WITCH-HUNT” AGAINST PTI

The defence minister said that the law is the same for the PTI and the government but Imran Khan started crying foul after facing legal actions against him. Asif said that PML-N is not involved in arresting any political leader.

Asif said that Azam Swati and Shahbaz Gill had secured bail from the courts within three to four days and the government will not complain if the court issues a release order for Fawad Chaudhry. He added that PML-N has always adopted legal moves.

To a question, Asif replied that the foreign funding case was not filed by the PML-N and its proceedings were continued for seven years.

READ: FAWAD CHAUDHRY REMANDED IN POLICE CUSTODY FOR TWO DAYS

Earlier, Federal Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the arrest of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry was not politically motivated as he was arrested for “threatening” Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officials for “just doing their duty”.

Addressing a press conference, the minister said that if the coalition government led by her party, the PML-N, were to take political revenge, “all PTI leaders would have been in jail by now” but the ruling coalition has no such desire.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said that PTI leadership has attacked every state institution since their ouster in the center but the PDM-coalition has tolerated it and is still not taking any sort of political revenge, adding that this case against Fawad Chaudhry was registered by an ECP official Omar Hameed not the government.