Amid PTI protest, army deployed in Islamabad ahead of SCO summit – Times of India

ISLAMABAD: The situation remained tense in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore on Saturday as supporters of the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) clashed with police and paramilitary forces to stage their protest for the release of their jailed leader.
Considering the grave security situation, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif‘s government handed responsibility for security in the federal capital to the army ahead of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Pakistan on Oct 15 and 16.
Television footage showed Pakistan army vehicles patrolling various areas of Islamabad on Saturday morning as the govt’s order came into effect.
“For maintaining law and order and providing security to foreign delegates during the 23rd meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of States, armed forces in conjunction with civil armed forces and police will be deployed around the air base/airport, routes, venues, accommodation, etc. falling within the territorial jurisdiction of the Punjab,” the provincial home department said in a notification.
Life remained disturbed in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi for a second consecutive day, with mobile phone and internet services suspended and major roads, entry and exit points still blocked with shipping containers.
Hundreds of PTI activists, including senior leaders, had gathered at multiple locations in Islamabad, defying heavy police blockades and road closures to reach Islamabad’s D-Chowk where jailed PTI chief Imran Khan had asked his supporters to gather. Over a 100 PTI members were arrested from Islamabad and more than 600 workers were detained in Lahore, where also Imran’s supporters were staging a protest on his call. Throughout the day violent clashes were reported between PTI protesters and law enforcement officials, with frequent instances of stone-pelting and tear-gas exchanges being witnessed.
There was high drama in the evening when police and paramilitary Rangers stormed the official guesthouse and administrative office for the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province in Islamabad, apparently to arrest chief minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who was assigned by Imran to lead the protest.
“KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has been arrested from KP House in Islamabad,” PTI said in a WhatsApp message. “He has been tricked. And Arrest. KP House sealed,” PTI international spokesperson Zulfiqar Bukhari said in the WhatsApp message, adding that it amounted to an attack on the federation.
When asked how the CM was “tricked”, Bukhari said Gandapur was asked to hold talks with the govt but was arrested instead.
Later, PTI politicians retracted their claims about Gandapur’s arrest. Nawaz Mehmood, a PTI politician, said Gandapur had not been arrested. “He has been detained inside KP House in the capital by law enforcement personnel,” he added.