LAHORE: Pakistan's legendary cricketer and opposition leader Imran Khan was on Wednesday detained by radical students at a university here and subsequently handed over to police after he emerged from hiding to join a protest at the campus against the emergency rule.
A large number of policemen were deployed at the Punjab University's new campus following reports that Khan, who had gone underground following imposition of emergency on November three, would come to the institution to lead the protest and address students opposing the emergency.
However, Khan was taken away on his arrival by members of the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT), the student wing of the hardline Jamaat-e-Islami, and locked up in a building for almost 90 minutes.
The Punjab University is a stronghold of the IJT, which said it would not allow the former cricketer to use the students for his 'own purposes', TV channels reported.
University officials later escorted Khan to the gates of the institution, where he was arrested by a strong police contingent.
Speaking to reporters at the gate, Khan urged people to prepare for a campaign against President Pervez Musharraf and the emergency.
Khan was taken to Iqbal Town police station and then to an undisclosed location. Police officials said an FIR would be lodged against him for violating emergency regulations and participating in a rally.
The former cricketer earlier made a dramatic escape from his home near Islamabad when a large number of policemen arrived there to arrest him hours after the emergency was imposed. Since then, he was in hiding in Lahore.
He issued several statements and video messages urging people to rise up against Musharraf during this period. His ex-wife Jemima Khan also mobilised support for him and organised protests in Britain against the emergency in Pakistan.
Khan has been trying in recent days to mobilise students for anti-emergency protests, saying they represent the future of Pakistan and should play a more active role in the campaign against Musharraf.
