Police used shelling on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers’ in Swabi as they were heading to Islamabad.
Police used shelling to disperse the PTI’s convoy under Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak, stating that they would not be allowed to proceed to Islamabad.
Police alleged that the protesters were using cranes to remove containers.
Earlier, while addressing workers in Swabi, the make-shift stage which Khattak was using to address a gathering of workers collapsed.
The chief minister was not hurt during the incident.
Khattak did address workers after the stage collapse, stating that oppressors had blocked roads. “I will lodge an FIR against Chaudhry Nisar, Shehbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif if my workers are harmed,” the chief minister said.
“Show me the law which makes it legal to block roads,” Khattak added.
Khattak is leading a rally from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Bani Gala and has warned the ruling party against cutting off KP from Pakistan by blocking roads and stopping PTI workers from reaching Islamabad.
Police has been rounding up PTI activists ahead of the Nov 2 Islamabad lockdown.
Earlier, Imran Khan alleged that his party workers were being kidnapped and not arrested. “I demand that the Supreme Court take suo moto notice. These are abductions and not arrests. They are robbing people of their democratic rights,” Khan said at Bani Gala.
As of yesterday, Punjab police arrested workers across Punjab under 16 MPO (Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960). The decision of arrests came after a meeting chaired by Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Amin Wains, sources had informed.
The Punjab government on Saturday imposed section 144 banning rallies and demonstrations across the province, which will be in force till November 8.
The Section 144 has also been imposed in Islamabad.
