Sisters of former prime minister (PM) Imran Khan, and at least two top Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders, were briefly detained by the police for holding a sit-in outside Adiala Jail, saying they won't leave until permitted to see the jailed party founder.

 

Sources, however, told The Current that Aleema Khan and Uzma Khan, as well as PTI's Aliya Hamza and Sahibzada Hamid Raza, were later set free when the police stopped the prisoner van at a distance from the jail and asked the detainees to go home.

 

"You’re not being taken to a police station... please go back to your homes," sources quoted the police as saying, over which, they added, Khan's sisters and Hamza refused to leave.

 

“If you have taken us into custody, then take us to the police station,” they reportedly told the police. The cops then dropped the detainees in front of a wedding hall, reports said, adding that after exiting the police van, the women sat on the lawn and refused to leave.

 

A peaceful sit-in, led by Imran Khan’s sisters, continued at the location by the time this report was filed.

 

Earlier, a clash broke out between PTI workers and police near Adiala Jail, leading to multiple arrests and a brief standoff.

 

The confrontation occurred at the Gorakhpur checkpoint, where PTI workers had gathered and chanted slogans after the party leaders were denied permission to meet the jailed party founder.

 

In response, police resorted to baton charging the protesters, while PTI supporters pelted stones at law enforcement personnel. Several PTI leaders and workers were taken into custody during the altercation.

 

The situation was defused after Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Omar Ayub intervened and assured police of cooperation.

 

PTI chief Barrister Gohar strongly condemned the arrests, saying that the court has clearly ordered that the family be allowed to meet the PTI founder, a private media outlet reported.

 

Barrister Gohar termed the detention of the PTI founder's sisters "illegal and unconstitutional," and asserted that no court order imposed conditional terms for such meetings.

 

"We did not pelt stones at police nor did we make any call for protest. We only came here to show support for the PTI founder’s sisters," reports quoted him as saying.