Karachi police arrest 39 Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf workers as crackdown continues ahead of general elections

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan police have intensified the crackdown on Pakistan Tehree-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers and have picked up over three dozen more party workers for being allegedly involved in violence during a rally at Teen Talwar over the weekend, Dawn reported.

They have been arrested on charges of rioting and attacking policemen, among other crimes.

"39 more persons have been apprehended on charges of rioting, attacking a policeman, and ransacking official vehicles," a police spokesperson said.

The number of activists apprehended during these three days stands at 72, the spokesperson said.

According to Dawn, they were being identified with the help of digital evidence against them, the spokesperson added.

Just one week ahead of the general elections, the law enforcement agency has been carrying out raids across the city to arrest PTI workers.

Apart from the dozens of PTI leaders and workers named in the arson and terrorism FIR registered on behalf of the state after the Teen Talwar rally and violence, the police have also booked around 5000 unnamed workers of the party and have continued to carry out raids across the city to arrest them.

However, the Sindh High Court on Tuesday granted 95 of them protective jail, giving relief to some of the party workers, Dawn reported.

Earlier on Wednesday, the administrative judge of the anti-terrorism court (ATCs) refused to give the physical remand of 30 PTI activists to the police and sent them to prison on judicial remand.

The investigating officer produced 30 arrested PTI activists before the administrative judge and requested the court grant them physical remand. However, the court rejected his request and remanded them in judicial custody until February 15.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) announced on Thursday that it would conduct its intra-party elections on February 5, as reported by ARY News.

The Federal Election Commissioner, Raoof Hassan, released the intra-party schedule on PTI's social media "X" account.

"The official schedule of intra-party elections for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has been released. The intra-party elections of Tehreek-e-Insaf will be held on Monday, February 5. Federal Election Commissioner of Tehreek-e-Insaf, Rauf Hassan, released the schedule of intra-party elections," the post stated.