Lahore Police on Friday confirmed that another son of Aleema Khan, sister of PTI founder Imran Khan, was taken into custody from his Lahore residence, a day after his brother was arrested in connection with the May 9 riots.

The deputy investigation of Lahore Police confirmed to Dawn.com that Shershah Khan, akin to his brother Shahrez Khan, was also arrested today for his involvement in the May 9 riots.

Aleema’s lawyer, Advocate Rana Mudassir Umar, said that “Shershah was taken from his house after his appearance at a Lahore anti-terrorism court in relation to his brother’s case”.

The PTI, in a post on X, called the incident an “abduction” and lamented that “the rule of law has been replaced with the law of the jungle”.

The move comes a day after PTI announced that men in plainclothes had “abducted” Aleema’s son from her residence. Lahore police later announced that Shahrez had been arrested in connection with a May 9 case.

Aleema addressed the arrest on social media this morning, saying, “(The policemen) brutally assaulted our staff, harassed my daughter-in-law, and forcibly took away my son, Shahrez Khan, in front of his two young daughters.”

She added, “For over three years, this fascist regime in Pakistan has unleashed a reign of terror, raiding thousands of homes, abducting and harassing countless innocent civilians.”

However, she said that it had not broken Imran and that he had set a “remarkable standard of resilience against tyranny”.

Speaking on the incident today, Aleema addressed the notion that the move was an attempt to scare the PTI.

“Do we look like we will be scared of such things?” she said.

She added, “In every FIR (first information report), it is written: ‘Aleema Khan comes bringing Imran Khan’s message’. So if we have to bring Imran Khan’s message in every FIR, we will absolutely do that. We will absolutely be his voice and give his complete message.”

On May 9, 2023, PTI supporters, protesting Imran’s arrest, staged violent protests throughout the country, vandalising military installations and state-owned buildings, while also attacking the Lahore corps commander’s residence. Following the riots, thousands of protesters, including party leaders, were arrested.

Imran’s son Kasim Khan termed the arrests “blatant state repression”.

Lahore ATC judge sends Shahrez on 8-day physical remand

Meanwhile, a Lahore anti-terrorism court (ATC) sent Shahrez on an eight-day physical remand. The suspect was presented in the Lahore ATC today before Judge Manzer Ali Gill.

The investigating officer told the judge that Shahrez was arrested in relation to the Jinnah House attack on May 9. He added that the suspect was first named in the case on September 23, 2023, in supplementary statements.

To this, Shahrez’s counsel, PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, alleged that his client had never been named in the case, branding the arrest an act of “harassment”.

He questioned why he had never been arrested before, despite being in the country for 27 months. The legal counsel called the move a “reaction to the approval of Imran’s bail pleas”.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court accepted Imran’s bail petitions in eight cases related to the May 9 riots. The PTI founder has been imprisoned at the Adiala Jail since August 2023 in cases related to the selling of state gifts and a £190 million graft case, while he faces pending trials related to the May 9 riots.

The investigation officer filed an application in the court for a 30-day physical remand for police investigation; however, the court approved only eight days and directed the police to present Shahrez at the next hearing.

Raja, speaking to the media outside the court, said Shahrez was “falsely implicated”. He vowed to fight against the case, saying, “We will go to every court.”

“This is a message to the nation that there is no law in this country,” he said, adding that “cases are being fabricated”.

Questioning the validity of the case, Raja alleged that during the events of May 9, Shahrez was in Chitral.

“This is madness and a well-thought-out conspiracy,” he added. “We have to stand with the founder of PTI and his family.”

Tallal Chaudhry defends arrests

Meanwhile, speaking on Geo News show ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, Minister of State for Interior Tallal Chaudhry defended the arrests and said they could not be chalked off as “fake, fabricated [or] politically motivated”, saying that both siblings were present at the scene of the Jinnah House vandalism.

“One was on the vehicle on which Hassaan Niazi was making his speech and the other, when he was arrested, himself told that he was also present there.”

In contrast to the state minister’s claims, the PTI said Shahrez was in Chitral at the time of the May 9 riots.

“Family and friends of Shahrez shared pictures, videos, and WhatsApp messages, including timestamps and metadata, which show that he and his wife were on a trip to Chitral, in the northern mountainous region of Pakistan, from May 6th through May 12th.”

PTI lawyer Taimur Malik also said: “The fact is that he was in Chitral during that week in May 2023 and was simply not present in Lahore.”

Questioned about the same, Chaudhry said: “The first thing to consider is that if there will be no evidence, then definitely, if his uncle (Imran Khan) can get bail … then so will he.”

Pushed back on the matter, the minister said it had taken time to gather the evidence and reiterated that Shershah was present with Niazi. “To say that this was preplanned or something, then the arrest would’ve been made a long time ago. So many times you have to wait for the police version and evidence.”