Concerns grow over Imran Khan’s safety, sisters assaulted outside Adiala Jail
text_fields
Rawalpindi: Speculation over former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s safety intensified on Wednesday after his three sisters were assaulted by police outside Adiala Jail.
The incident triggered a wave of rumours on social media claiming Khan had been killed in custody.
PTI leaders have dismissed these claims as misinformation, urging the public to remain cautious.
Noreen Niazi, Aleema Khan, and Dr. Uzma Khan had been waiting outside the jail seeking permission to meet their brother, who has been incarcerated since August 2023. According to members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), police personnel launched an unprovoked attack on the women late in the evening.
In a statement shared via PTI channels, Noreen Niazi recounted the assault, saying that they had been peacefully protesting over concerns for his health and had neither blocked roads nor committed any unlawful act. She said that, despite this, the streetlights were suddenly switched off and a brutal assault followed.
She added that, at 71, she had been seized by her hair, thrown to the ground, and dragged across the road, and that other women present had also been slapped and dragged.
Thousands of PTI supporters later gathered outside the jail in solidarity, chanting slogans and demanding Khan’s immediate release. Khan’s sisters have called for an impartial investigation into the incident and urged the Inspector General of Punjab to hold the officers involved accountable.
The confrontation has further fuelled tensions amid an undeclared ban on meetings with Khan, which has reportedly been in place for over a month. Even Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi was denied access after seven attempts, PTI leaders said. According to Khan, jail authorities are operating under the control of an army officer.
The absence of verified information about Khan’s condition created a vacuum that was quickly filled by online speculation. Several social media accounts, particularly from Pakistan and Afghanistan, circulated unverified claims suggesting that Khan had been killed in custody. PTI officials have categorically rejected these rumours, calling them part of a “dangerous misinformation campaign.”
Khan’s sisters maintain that the violent crackdown they faced is part of a broader pattern of “indiscriminate force used against peaceful protesters over the last three years.” They have demanded an impartial inquiry, accountability for the officers involved, and transparent access for family members to meet the former prime minister.