RAWALPINDI: Police dispersed a sit-in staged by the PTI founder Imran Khan’s party supporters and his sisters at Factory Naka near Adiala jail after the authorities did not allow them to meet the incarcerated former prime minister.

However, Mr Khan’s sisters Aleema, Uzma, and Noreen Niazi were still present at Factory Naka with a handful of supporters after midnight.

The earlier police action forced many participants to flee towards the Gorakhpur neighbourhood near the Adiala prison, with the anti-riot unit in pursuit, authorities said.

Routes to the Adiala jail remained blocked on Tuesday to stop PTI supporters from reaching the prison, and a large police contingent was deployed at the protest site. The sisters had arrived to meet Imran Khan, but they were stopped at Factory Naka and barred from going towards the prison along with other party leaders, including Salman Akram Raja and Barrister Gohar Ali Khan.

Aleema, other sisters staged protest outside jail after being barred from meeting Imran

Barrister Gohar was stopped at Dahgal Naka, while PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said he was stopped at a police checkpoint near Bahria Town and later at Chakri before reaching Adiala jail.

Earlier in the day, Aleema told journalists that “we will do whatever needs to be done” for the release of the PTI leader. She also called Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi “the future of Pakistan”, adding that the “youth in Pakistan have buried old politics”. “This is new politics,” she said. About the PTI founder’s messages from jail, she said “whatever messages he sends” were posted on X. Imran Khan does not have access to the internet in jail, and it remains unclear who operates his X account.

For the past several weeks, police have been breaking up these sit-ins in midnight operations using force, including water cannons. However, PTI leaders have insisted it is their court-mandated right to meet Mr Khan and that they will continue staging protests until the meeting is allowed.

It may be noted that an order issued by the Islamabad High Court in March 2025 mandated that meetings with Imran Khan be permitted twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday. Despite the IHC’s order, PTI leaders and his family members have been stopped from meeting Mr Khan.

Mohammad Asghar in Rawalpindi and Tahir Naseer contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2026