RAWALPINDI: The Punjab Home Ministry announced on Tuesday a two-week prohibition on meetings for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan within Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail. This measure, outlined in a notification from the Home Department, suspends all visitations, interviews, and gatherings at the facility due to a heightened security alert.
This prohibition extends to all prisoners and undertrials who are in Adiala jail due to the security threat. Authorities have been instructed to install barbed wire fencing around the jail perimeter and conduct a comprehensive security evaluation involving special branch police officials, Intelligence Bureau personnel, and prison staff within a day. Enhanced security protocols, including mandatory body searches for all entering the premises and clearance operations within and around the jail, have been mandated.
Imran Khan, currently serving a cumulative 31-year sentence across various cases, had been holding meetings with legal counsel, family members, and party associates at Adiala Jail since his relocation there in September 2023. These engagements were permitted only on Mondays and Thursdays.
Earlier this year, Khan received a 10-year sentence in the cipher case alongside Shah Mahmood Qureshi, followed by a 14-year term in the Toshakhana reference case involving the misuse of official privileges. Additionally, Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were handed a seven-year sentence each in the “un-Islamic nikah” case. Both were also indicted in the £190 million case during the jail trial.
Amid calls from Khan’s party and supporters for his release, concerns regarding his safety were heightened after the Counter Terrorism Department’s arrest of three individuals allegedly plotting an attack on Adiala Jail. The recovery of weapons and explosives from the suspects, identified as Afghan nationals, was confirmed by Rawalpindi City Police Officer Khalid Hamdani.
(Islamabad51_Newsdesk)
