Former Prime Minister Imran Khan will be arrested in a case involving hooliganism and sloganeering against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his delegation at Masjid-e-Nabawi, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah announced on Sunday.
“They will not be forgiven at all for what they did,” Sanaullah said in a statement, calling Imran Khan a “fitna.” He went on to say, “Imran Khan will undoubtedly be arrested.”
The minister said that there is no justification for not filing a case against those who violated the sanctity of Roza-e-Rasool, referring to the FIR registered against nearly 150 people, including Imran Khan (PBUH).
If any citizen comes forward and requests action in this regard, the government will not put up any barriers, he said. He claimed that the incident involving PML-N leaders being harassed at the holy mosque was pre-planned and that people were provoked to do so.
According to Sanaullah, the Saudi government has decided to take action against those who were involved in the incident, with some people being deported from the country.
He added that personal animosity and politics should not be brought to Masjid-e-Nabawi.
Earlier in the day, 150 people were arrested in a case involving hooliganism at Masjid-e-Nabawi.
On the complaint of a citizen named Muhammad Naeem, the suspects were arrested and charged at the Madina Town Police Station in Faisalabad.
Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry, ex-special assistant to the prime minister for political communication Dr Shahbaz Gill, former deputy speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri, MNA Sheikh Rashid Shafique, British-Pakistani businessman Aneel Mussarat, and others have been nominated in the case.
According to the FIR, two separate groups, one from Pakistan with 150 members and the other from London, were dispatched to Saudi Arabia and harassed Pakistani pilgrims and prevented them from performing religious rituals at Masjid-e-Nabawi.
The complainant claimed that the incident took place as a result of a premeditated conspiracy, citing Sheikh Rashid and Rashid Shafique’s statements.
Sheikh Rashid Shafiq, the nephew of former federal minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, was detained at the Islamabad airport in the early hours of Sunday after arriving from Saudi Arabia.
The arrest was made in relation to the chanting of anti-Shehbaz Sharif slogans at Masjid-e-Nabawi.
