Imran’s chief of staff arrested on sedition charges

PTI leader and Imran Khan’s chief of staff Shehbaz Gill has been arrested in Islamabad on sedition charges, SAMAA TV’s Adil Tanoli reported.

Imran Khan has called an emergency meeting of the party over the arrest.

Gill’s arrest was first reported by PTI’s Fawad Chaudhry and Murad Saeed on Twitter.

“Shahbaz Glll has been abducted from Bani Gala Chowk by people who came in vehicles without number plates,” Fawad said in a tweet.

Bani Gala Chowk is located around one kilometer from Imran Khan’s Bangi Gala residence.

Another PTI leader Murad Saeed also reported his arrest and said that the glass windows of his car were broken.

He claimed that an assistant of Gill was beaten up.

A video shared by PTI’s official Twitter handle showed broken glass windows of a crossover vehicle.

Sedition charges and JIT probe

Gill was moved to an undisclosed location after the arrest.

There was no official word on the ‘arrest’ of Gill. However, police sources told Tanoli that Gill has been detained in connection with an FIR registered against him.

He faces sedition charges and has been accused of incitement in connection with a campaign against institutions, the sources said.

He also made a controversial statement on air with a private-run TV channel. The statement led the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to issue a show-cause notice to the TV channel, according to BBC Urdu.

A joint investigation team (JIT) is investigating a troll campaign that was launched immediately after a Pakistan Army helicopter crashed in Balochistan’s Lasbela district.

The campaign, which the government blamed on the PTI, tried to belittle the sacrifices of the officers who were martyred in the crash.

The federal interior ministry tasked an FIA team to investigate the hate campaign. On Monday, one officer each from the ISI and IB joined the probe and a JIT was notified.

Plans to arrest Imran?

SAMAA TV’s Abbas Shabir reported that Imran Khan has called an emergency meeting of the party over Gill’s arrest.

The PTI will likely approach the courts today while the party meeting will review the situation after Gill’s arrest, he said.

Murad Saeed, in his tweets, said that a “horrible plan” had been hatched yesterday (Monday) night but Imran Khan’s loyal followers warned that Khan was the red line.

Saeed did not elaborate on the alleged plan he was referring to. However, Sheikh Rasheed, a close ally of Imran Khan, also spoke about Imran Khan’s possible arrest and his disqualification.

Rasheed said Imran Khan’s arrest will mark the beginning of bloodied politics in the country.

More to follow…