RAWALPINDI (Dunya News) - Police crackdown on late Tuesday night ended the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) sit-in at the Factory Naka (Factory Checkpoint) area near Adiala Jail, Dunya News reported.
According to details, police used water cannons to disperse the PTI protesters while the PTI workers pelted stones at the police in retaliation. As per the eye-witnesses, the police took several workers into custody.
Police stopped PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar and the sisters of the PTI founder at the Factory Naka on Tuesday as they attempted to visit PTI founder Imran Khan, prompting Aleema Khan to lead a sit-in alongside party workers. Despite police barricades, a number of PTI supporters gathered at the site and chanted slogans against the government.
Speaking to the crowd, Aleema urged supporters to remain calm, stressing that the police were “our brothers” and were acting under pressure. She said the pushback from police was due to the presence of women in the protest.
Aleema accused authorities of denying the PTI founder family visits for an extended period, terming it “mental torture.” She said the family had been attempting to secure a meeting for over a month and insisted that their last meeting had involved no political discussion—only concerns about officials’ behaviour.
Questioning why her brother was being treated as a national security threat, she demanded clarity regarding his alleged solitary confinement and on whose orders it was being enforced.
According to sources, the police returned five vehicles belonging to protesters, while during the negotiations, the sit-in leadership demanded that all vehicles be returned in exchange for ending the protest. The police had seized 14 government and private vehicles belonging to PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and transferred them to the police station.
On the other hand, Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar stated that after a violation of the law, there is not even a one percent chance of meeting the PTI founder. Meetings have been legally barred, not based on anyone’s personal wish.