Imran Khan reaches Lahore High Court to seek bail in cases related to violence after his arrest
Lahore (PTI): Amidst tight security, Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan on Monday reached the Lahore High Court to seek bail in the cases registered against him for torching the house of the Corps Commander here and other incidents of violence erupted after his arrest last week.
He was accompanied by his wife Bushra Bibi.
Khan returned to his Lahore home on Saturday after having locked himself in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) premises for hours for fear of re-arrest despite being granted bail on Friday. The IHC had granted 70-year-old Khan bail, barring the authorities from arresting him in all the cases registered beyond May 9 and asked him to approach the Lahore High Court for further relief on May 15.
In the Al Qadir Trust case, in which National Accountability Bureau arrested the former cricketer-turned-politician on May 9, the IHC granted him pre-arrest bail for two weeks.
The Supreme Court had declared Khan's arrest from the IHC premises illegal and referred the matter to the IHC.
The Punjab police on May 10 booked Khan and hundreds of his party workers for attacking and setting on fire the Corps Commander House in Lahore besides registering five other FIRs against him for inciting his supporters to attack and damage the state buildings and military installations.
Khan and his deputy Shah Mahmood Qureshi and others have been framed under murder, terrorism and 20 other heinous offences for attacking the senior military commander's house known as 'Jinnah House' in Lahore Cantonment last Tuesday.
The arrest of Khan on Tuesday by the Pakistan Rangers at the IHC premises triggered unrest in Pakistan that continued till Friday and led to several deaths and dozens of military and state installations being destroyed by the protesters.
For the first time in Pakistan's history, the protesters stormed the army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi and also torched the corps commander's house in Lahore.
Police put the death toll in violent clashes to 10 while Khan's party claims 40 of its workers lost their lives in the firing by security personnel.
Punjab Inspector General Police Dr Usman Anwar told a press conference on Sunday that over 3,500 people have been arrested in Punjab province for their involvement in the violence that erupted after Khan's arrest. He said most of them will be tried in anti-terrorism courts.
Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.
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2 Indians killed, 10 injured in drone attack on Oman's industrial hub of Sohar
New Delhi (PTI): Two Indian nationals were killed and 10 others injured in a drone strike in Oman's Sohar city on Friday that marked the first Indian fatalities on land since the Iran-US conflict erupted on February 28.
Joint secretary (Gulf) in the Ministry of External Affairs Aseem Mahajan confirmed the killing of the two Indians in Oman at an inter-ministerial media briefing on the crisis in West Asia.
He also said that 150,000 Indian nationals have returned to India from West Asia after the conflict began.
"I wish to share with you an incident that happened in Sohar city today. There was an attack and in this incident two Indian nationals have died," he said.
"We express our deepest condolences to their families. Of the 11 injured (in the attack), 10 are Indians. Out of them, five have been discharged after receiving treatment, and five others are receiving treatment in local hospitals," Mahajan said.
"None of them is reported to have serious injuries. Our mission is in close touch with the concerned company and local authorities and is rendering all assistance," he said.
While Mahajan did not provide specific details of the attack, the Oman News Agency (ONA) reported that two drones crashed in Sohar, with one hitting the Al Awhi Industrial Zone and claiming the lives of the two expatriate workers.
These latest casualties brought the total number of Indian fatalities in the West Asia conflict to five. While the strike in Oman marked the first deaths on land, three Indian sailors have previously been killed in attacks on merchant vessels since the conflict erupted on February 28.
In the last few days, India has ramped up its diplomatic efforts to ensure safety and security of 10 million Indian nationals living in West Asia.
India has also been making efforts to secure safe passage for over 20 Indian-flagged merchant vessels currently stationed on either side of the Strait of Hormuz.
In his remarks, Mahajan also said that 15 Indian crew members of the US-owned oil tanker Safesea Vishnu were safely evacuated to a hotel in Basra city.
The tanker came under attack near Basra in Iraq on Wednesday. An Indian crew member was killed in the attack.
Efforts were underway to transport the mortal remains of the deceased to India , he said.
Mahajan said the Indian mission in Basra is also trying to ensure safe repatriation of the 15 Indian crew members to India.
The senior official said 150,000 Indian nationals returned from West Asia.
Around 2,900 Indians returned from Qatar in Qatar Airways flights over the past few days, and 1,000 Indians who returned from Bahrain.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said 117 Indian nationals have crossed over to Armenia from Iran through land border crossings and several of them have returned to India already.
We told all sides to adopt the path of dioplomacy and dialogue to resolve it the conflict as soon as possible, he said at the briefing.
We are also talking to BRICS member states so that a consensus evolves on this issue, he said.
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