Imran Khan arrest fallout: Pak PM Sharif orders arrest of miscreants who torched Jinnah House in 72 hours

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday gave a 72-hour ultimatum to the Punjab government to arrest the miscreants who torched the historic Jinnah House or the Corps Commander House in Lahore this week to vent their anger over the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.

On Wednesday, Khan, Chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was arrested by paramilitary Rangers from the Islamabad High Court while he was undergoing a biometric process before a court hearing in a corruption case.

Also read: 'It's one man': Imran Khan blames Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir for arrest (WATCH)

Khan's dramatic arrest led to miscreants torching and damaging over 80 vehicles of law enforcement agencies besides damaging 14 state buildings/installations in Punjab province.

The miscreants, who are mostly members of Khan's PTI, set on fire the Corps Commander House known as Jinnah House in Lahore to vent their anger over the arrest of Khan.

"I have given law enforcement apparatus a target of 72 hours to arrest all those involved in facilitating, abetting and perpetrating the disgraceful incidents of arson, ransacking, sabotage & damaging public & private properties," Prime Minister Sharif said in a tweet.

Sharif lamented the incidents of violence triggered by Khan's arrest and noted that Pakistan as a nation was in grief because the Jinnah House was torched.

"Terrible events in the history of Pakistan took place on May 9. Corps Commander House is the historic Jinnah House and seeing it [in such a condition] is disheartening," Geo TV quoted him as saying.

Sharif asserted that Khan, 70, and his 'mob' are no less than anti-Pakistan elements.

"What the enemies could not do in 75 years, the PTI miscreants were able to do. Government property was damaged under a plan," the report quoted Sharif as saying.

The premier also regretted that the martyr's memorial was also damaged and called for the trial to be held against the miscreants in anti-terrorism courts.

"If anti-terrorism courts have to be opened at night to punish the criminals, then they should be opened," Sharif added.

Sharif also slammed Khan for blaming Army Chief General Asim Munir for his arrest, saying his predecessor's "statement on the Army Chief is a reflection of his diseased and obsessive mindset".

Meanwhile, police in Pakistan's Punjab province on Friday claimed to have arrested 3,000 people, including women, during the violent clashes between Khan's supporters and security agencies after the former prime minister's arrest earlier this week.

Also read: Former Pak PM Imran Khan back at Lahore residence after securing bail in many cases

Police have booked Khan, the chairman of the PTI party, and 1,500 of his party leaders and workers for torching the army commander's house, in which two protesters were killed.

Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician, was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan. He is the only Pakistani prime minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament.

(With inputs from PTI)