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Sunday, December 22, 2024  
20 Jumada Al-Akhirah 1446  

The inside story of Imran Khan’s first night in custody

Two conflicting accounts have emerged about physical violence in custody
Photos of Imran Khan being arrested on Tuesday (left) and his appearance in court.
Photos of Imran Khan being arrested on Tuesday (left) and his appearance in court.

While it was the central event that led to country wide protests, closure of schools and shutting down of the internet, relatively little is known about what became of Imran Khan after he was arrested from Islamabad High Court.

The last visuals shown on TV or social media were of Imran being roughly escorted by a cluster of Rangers personnel and being pushed into a black vehicle.

  Imran Khan being arrested.
Imran Khan being arrested.

It was initially reported that Imran Khan had been taken to NAB’s Rawalpindi office, an odd name because the office is situated in Islamabad next Lal Masjid, a short distance away from the ISI’s headquarters in Aabpara.

Imran Khan’s hearing took place in a the Police Lines, the place having been defined as a court only hours before through a special notification. The next visual released of him was sitting on a chair next morning in court. Only one image could be sneaked out since the media was not allowed in court.

  Imran Khan in court.
Imran Khan in court.

New details have now emerged about Khan’s first night involved more movement then previously known, and could have involved torture.

The report about torture first came through an article American news organisation CNN, which quoted one of Imran’s lawyers to allege that he had beaten in custody.

“Khan has alleged he was “tortured and beaten all night” while in detention, his lawyer told CNN, adding that the former leader had “bruises on his head” when he met him at the court hearing,” the article said.

Another article published by BBC Urdu quoted one of Imran Khan’s lawyers Sher Alam Khan to reveal that Imran was not kept confined in a room all night at all.

The article quotes Imran through Sher Alam to say that there was no violence inflicted on him but he was ‘mentally tortured’.

According to the article, Imran Khan said the car he was in was kept on the move the entire day. At around 4am, Imran claimed, he was led to a squalid room. Imran said he was not even given a sheet to cover the floor to be able to sleep.

Imran also told Sher Alam that he had not been to the washroom in 24 hours. It also echoed the CNN article’s claims to say that Imran Khan repeatdly touched a spot on his head, and said he had been struck there while being arrested.

Sher Alam said that Imran Khan told him not to get any cases fixed infront of Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, because he no longer trusted him. Justice Farooq had termed Khan’s arrest from inside court premises to be legal on Tuesday night.

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Islamabad High Court

PTI protest

Imran Khan arrest