Pakistan opposition leader Fawad Chaudhry held for ‘inciting violence’

islamabad, January 25

Police arrested Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s senior leader Fawad Chaudhry during a predawn raid on Wednesday on charges of “inciting violence against a constitutional institution”, prompting the party chief and former prime minister Imran Khan to slam the state institutions and demand his release.

Fawad, a close aide of Khan, was taken into custody from his residence in Lahore after a case was registered against him at Islamabad’s Kohsar Police Station on the complaint of the Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for “threatening” the electoral body’s members and their families.

Later in a tweet, the Islamabad police said that Fawad, 52, tried to “incite violence against a constitutional institution” and “inflame the sentiments of the people”.

In a televised address from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore, Khan denounced Fawad’s arrest and said that his party leaders and workers were being arrested and there were plans in place against his party. He termed Fawad’s arrest “a part of a plan to rig elections”.