Lahore police say they have arrested Imran Khan's nephew

Lahore: Pakistan's Punjab police on Friday confirmed that incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan's nephew Shahrez Khan has been arrested in connection with May 9, 2023 riots cases and not abducted as claimed.

Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in a statement on Thursday claimed that Shahrez Khan was abducted from his home here.

"Punjab police have arrested Shahrez Khan. He was wanted in connection with the May 9 cases and will be produced before a court today," DIG Investigation Zeeshan Raza said in a statement. "Those involved in anti-state activities do not deserve any leniency," he said.


Imran Khan's close aide Zulfi Bokhari late on Thursday night said, "Cowards in civilian clothing attacked Aleema Khanum's (Imran's sister) house. They beat up the poor staff and abducted her son Shahrez Khan, who has nothing to do with politics."

"These are new lows of brutal fascism. We strongly condemn this appalling act. Disgraceful cowards," he said.

"Shahrez Khan, who is an international athlete, was abducted from his bedroom after breaking the doors of the house -- the servants were subjected to brutal violence and Shahrez Khan was tortured in front of his two innocent children after forcibly entering the room," the PTI said.

Aleema Khan has been openly criticising the military establishment.

Earlier, she had told the media that Imran Khan asked his party members to hold Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir accountable if anything happens to him in jail.

The 72-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August 2023 after he was booked in multiple cases.

Ali Amin Gandapur, a senior PTI leader and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister, took to X to condemn the incident and demanded Sharez's immediate release. "The abduction of Aleema Khan's son Shahrez from her home by men in plain clothes is despicable," he lambasted.

Shahrez graduated from Oxford University and at present, he works as the regional head at Simba Global, a big linen supplier based in Australia and is also a triathlete.

Imran Khan's other nephew Hassan Niazi is convicted by the military court in case related to May 9, 2023, when Khan's party workers vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Jinnah House (Lahore Corps Commander House), Mianwali Airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad, some 130 kms from Lahore.

The Army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time, protesting Khan's arrest. PTI