Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan dodges arrest after Islamabad Police show up at his residence

Reports in the media said that PTI Chairman Imran Khan avoided arrest on Sunday when police from the Islamabad Police Department arrived at his Zaman Park residence in Lahore with a court summons to take him into jail for his repeated failures to appear at Toshakhana court sessions.

The 70-year-old ex-Prime Minister has been recuperating from a gunshot wound since an assassination attempt last year, yet he has still missed three indictment hearings before an Islamabad sessions court, as reported by Dawn.

Just after noon on Sunday, a contingent from the Islamabad Police and the Punjab Police went to Imran Khan's home, where they encountered a mob of PTI fans and party officials and were told that the PTI chairman was 'unavailable', according to the statement.

Despite the Islamabad police chief's prior assurances that they would not return empty-handed, the arrest could not be conducted since PTI supporters outnumbered the police.

Hours later, once speculation over where Imran Khan was had waned, he addressed a live television party from his Zaman Park home, putting an end to the mystery.

Speaking to the PTI supporters in the room, he said that he "bowed before any man or institution, and will never let you do so as well".

Imran Khan said he had called the public to Zaman Park to pay tribute to them for the way they participated in the `Jail Bharo Tehreek` (court arrest movement). "I did not call you for my support but to thank you," he added, Dawn reported.

Specifically, he is suspected of lying about the items he kept from the Toshakhana, a storage facility for gifts given to government officials from foreign diplomats. According to Dawn's reporting, officials may lawfully keep presents as long as they pay a pre-assessed price, usually a quarter of the gift's worth.

Also, READ: These two companies can now legally sell cocaine, heroin; know how

The Islamabad Police Department tweeted many times on Sunday that they were working with their counterparts in Lahore to apprehend Imran.

A report from Dawn said that the Superintendent of Police had "gone into Imran`s room but he was not present there," adding more evidence that the PTI head was "avoiding" arrest.

(With inputs from IANS)