Pakistan's Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan threatened to "hang former" prime minister Imran Khan upside down if the opposition leader goes through with his long march in Islamabad.
The minister said that the federal government has readied plans to crush the so called "Absolute Freedom March".
"Let him (Imran Khan) come to Islamabad. Imran Khan doesn't know what the government is planning to do with him this time around. We will hang him upside down,” the interior minister stated while speaking on Geo News channel program Capital Talk.
Apart from using drones to fire tear gas shells at the participants, the minister said ruthless steps will be taken to crush the march, adding that the government cannot guarantee the safety of anyone's life in the face of a charged mob.
Around 25,000 additional troops have been deployed to reinforce the ranks of the Islamabad police force.
Meanwhile, the News daily reported that Pakistan rangers would continue to guard Islamabad for three more months, as Khan has yet to announce the exact date of the much-hyped march.
Earlier this week, Khan stated that the impending march would be the biggest in the country's history.
The Sharif government has filed a contempt of court plea against the PTI chief in the Supreme Court over his proposed long march to Islamabad.
“Imran Khan is making announcements to attack Islamabad,” the plea states, urging the court to issue direction to the PTI chief to implement its earlier orders related to staging of protests and sit-ins.
The PTI chief has mobilized its supporters by holding dozens rallies across the country since April, after he lost the majority as prime minister in the parliament, paving the way for a joint opposition led by Shehbaz Sharif forming the government.
Khan has accused Washington of hatching a conspiracy to oust his party PTI from power, a charge refuted by the Joe Biden administration.