Imran Khan’s supporters clash with police ahead of his expected arrest

Pakistani police and supporters of Imran Khan clashed outside the former prime minister’s home ahead of his expected arrest.

Supporters of Mr Khan were struck by police with batons and lobed tear gas canisters, some of which landed on the lawns of Mr Khan’s house, according to video images released by his party.

Local Geo TV showed a helicopter hovering over the house, adding that the internet connection had been cut in the area.

“We will arrest Imran Khan today and present him in court,” said interior minister Rana Sanaullah at a public rally telecast live on local TV channels.

A lower trial court in the capital Islamabad had issued the arrest warrant for Mr Khan for unlawfully selling state gifts while in power from 2018 to 2022, his aide Fawad Chaudhry told Reuters.

Khan aide Shah Mehmood Qureshi told reporters the former prime minister had secured “protective bail” from a court.

“Our understanding is that the police can’t arrest Imran Khan,” he said.

Mr Khan has been demanding a snap election in protest rallies across the country since his ouster from office in a parliamentary vote early last year. That demand was rejected by his successor, Shehbaz Sharif, who has said the vote would be held as scheduled later this year.

Mr Khan was shot and wounded in one of these rallies.

His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers started the violence, government spokesman Amir Mir told Reuters.

“If Imran Khan ensures his presence in the court, it will be good, otherwise the law will take its course.”

Mr Khan called on his supporters to stand up for the supremacy of the law, in a video-recorded statement posted on Twitter: