The Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan government has chalked out a massive plan including putting former PM Imran Khan under house arrest to prevent his party PTI’s ‘Haqeeqi Azadi March (absolute freedom march)’ to the federal capital, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported Friday.
Sources told the newspaper that if the ex-PM announced a sit-in from his resident Bani Gala, the house would be declared a “sub-jail”, and he would be detained under the Maintenance of Public Ordinance. What’s more, under “Plan B”, Khan would be arrested before entering the capital Islamabad if he begins his march from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or Punjab province.
Khan has yet to announce the exact date of the much-hyped march.
Late Thursday, Sharif chaired a high-level meeting of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and other coalition partners to chalk out strategies against Imran Khan.
“It will not be a political long march of PTI but a march for a conspiracy,” a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office read. The PML-N leaders gave full authority to the government to take appropriate measures to tackle the situation.
Local media reports based on unnamed sources claimed that 25,000 additional personnel would be deployed to Islamabad to reinforce the ranks of the police force. To prevent any untoward incident, around 50,000 rubber bullets and more than 60,000 tear gas shells will be provided to security forces in addition to ten drones.
Meanwhile, in a fresh audio leak purportedly featuring the PTI chief, Khan could be heard discussing horse-trading (buying the votes of MPs) to win a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly in April.
However, local media noted the voice and audio quality changes in the sound clip, indicating editing had been done before its release on social media.
Khan lost the majority in the parliament, paving the way for the coalition led by Sharif to come to power.
The former PM blamed Washington for hatching a conspiracy against his government, in league with his opponents in Pakistan.
On Thursday, addressing a press conference in Islamabad, PM Sharif accused Khan of “treason against the state and the nation by spinning a deceitful narrative of conspiracy” against the ruling coalition and the state institutions.