BIG setback for Imran Khan amid ill health rumors as his sisters, PTI leaders booked under anti-terror law after…

In more bad news for jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, his sisters– Aleema Khan and Noreen Niazi– as well as several leaders and supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party, have been booked under the stringent anti-terror law for staging a sit-in protest outside the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.

What are the charges against Imran Khan’s sisters?

As per the police, an FIR was registered against Khan’s sisters, as well as PTI leaders and supporters, including Salman Akram Raja, Naeem Panjotha, Qasim Khan, Aliya Hamza, Raja Nasir Abbas, at Police Station Saddar Beroni, Rawalpindi, under provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Additionally, the police has also slapped Section 120 of the Pakistan Penal Code on Khan’s sisters and supporters, for allegedly planning a criminal conspiracy against the state, attacking police personnel and violating Section 144.

Why police booked Khan’s sisters under anti-terror law?

The case against PTI workers and Imran Khan’s sisters was lodged a day after they staged a sit-in protest outside the Adiala Jail on Tuesday, after authorities refused to allow a family and lawyers to meet the 73-year-old jailed former premier.

In a statement, police said at least 14 suspects were arrested on the spot last night, while efforts are underway to arrest others involved in the offences set out in the FIR.

Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, has been lodged in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail since August 2023, even as authorities have reportedly imposed unannounced restrictions on meetings with the former PM on the pretext that the visitors use such meetings for political ends.

Uzma Khan, Imran Khan’s sister, was last to meet him at the Adiala Jail, when she met the PTI founder on December 2.

What triggered Imran Khan ‘death’ rumors?

Notably, the development comes weeks after unverified reports emerged on social media, claiming that Imran Khan had been “assassinated” inside the Adiala Jail, triggering a political firestorm.

The claim stemmed from reports, which cited “sources” to claim that the former Pakistani premier has been killed. Several posts, including one from an X handle claiming to represent the “Ministry of Foreign Affairs Baluchistan”, carried a purported image showing Khan lying motionless on a stretcher.

However, a day later, Adiala Jail authorities refuted the rumors of Imran Khan’s death as “baseless”, asserting that the former Prime Minister is in “completely good health” inside the high-security jail.