Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub and several other Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders were arrested on Thursday after being detained for several hours at the Adiala Jail.

Earlier in the day, jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and 99 other PTI leaders were indicted for their alleged role in the attack on the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi that occurred on May 9, 2023.

They had visited the prison to appear before the court in a case related to May 9 events. Khan’s lawyer Faisal Chaudhry told News Insight with Amir Zia that the leaders were detained at 3:45pm.

Former Punjab law minister Raja Basharat and Ayub were apprehended outside Adiala Jail. Zartaj Gul and Fawad Chaudhry, however, left the jail premises. Azimuddin, known as Bala, a staff member for Khan, and Ahmad Chatha were taken into custody. Police transferred him to the Adiala Police Station.

The court, upon a request from Advocate Ghulam Hussain Murtaza Sanbal, ordered Saddar SP Nabeel Khokhar to present Basharat, Ayub, Chatha, Majid, and Azimuddin in court by 7:30pm. But SP Khokhar failed to bring the detained leaders on time, prompting the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi to issue a contempt of court notice. The court directed SP Khokhar to appear personally at 9am on Friday (tomorrow) to explain the delay.

Reports emerged that Ayub, Raja Basharat, and Chatha had been arrested in connection with cases filed in the Attock district while Majid and Azim were apprehended in a case registered at the Dhmial police station.

Sources within police said that the detained leaders are expected to be presented in court tomorrow.

The five arrested leaders have been moved from Adiala Jail to the Police Lines in Rawalpindi.

In a separate development, PTI leader Asad Qaiser announced that they would file a contempt of court petition in the Peshawar High Court against the arrest of Ayub. He demanded Ayub’s “immediate release”, alleging that his arrest was illegal and that the Punjab police are conducting unlawful arrests.