Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was arrested on Tuesday by paramilitary troops in Islamabad on charges brought by the country’s anti-corruption agency.
Khan was submitting his biometric data for a court appearance when paramilitary forces broke down a window to get to him before apprehending him, as seen in a video released by his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The sudden arrest is the latest chapter in months of ongoing political turmoil in the nuclear armed nation after the former Prime minister was ousted last year.
Khan was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote last year and has since led a popular campaign against the current government, accusing it of colluding with the military to remove him from office.
Khan was arrested in Islamabad on charges brought by the National Accountability Bureau, the country’s anti-corruption agency. CNN reports.
He has faced a long list of legal cases filed against him and multiple arrest warrants have been made, triggering confrontations with his supporters.
A video by PTI showed paramilitary troops piling out of cars and holding batons before the arrest.
In the video, paramilitary forces attacked Islamabad High Court premises before arresting Khan.
PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry said the political leader had been ‘whisked away by unknown people to an unknown location.’
Khan faces allegations of illegally selling gifts given to him by foreign dignitaries while he was in office, which he claims is ‘biased.’ He also claims the charges against him are political.
In March, the streets outside his residence turned to a battle between police and his supporters after officers attempted to arrest Khan for not showing up to court on corruption charges.
Supporters hurled stones and projectiles at police while people inside Khan’s residence lit fires after officers fired tear gas into the compound.
Police later cut the electricity supply to Khan’s home and turned street lights off in the neighborhood.
The operations were eventually called off. Khan was a cricket legend in his country before he entered politics.
He has accused Pakistani authorities of attempting to arrest him to remove him from the general election scheduled for October.
‘[The government], they’re petrified that if I come into power, I will hold them accountable,’ Khan told CNN during the unrest outside his residence in March.
‘They also know that even if I go to jail, we will swing the elections no matter what they do.’
